Chapter 21

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"Soldiers are coming!" Lhorne said while looking at several horses that rode to our position. Our position was easily discovered because of the enormous tree and good visibility in the middle of a sparse forest.

"How could they sniff us out?" Nora asked. Mattheus' face was ashen white as we figured out who was coming immediately.

"Those… Those damn traitors!!" Mattheus shouted while stomping his foot in rage. His face reddened in anger as he grabbed his sword!

"You guys! Run!! I will try to hold them off as long as I can!" Lily was shaking in her boots as fear engulfed her.

"Ah… that's Silvester's horse," I muttered.

Name: Silvester Berhondst Age: 25 Years Level: 40 Status: Normal Race: Human Job: Manslayer, Elfslayer, Tailslayer, Noble, Captain, Officer Skill: Sword Wave, Unknown Blessing: Ares, god of war (effects unknown)

"Damn it!" Lhorne quickly took a stance and drew his bow. His aim was precise, but Silvester blocked his arrow with ease. Lhorne shot three more arrows, but it was in vain as Silvester charged at us with madness in his eyes.

"So, these are the bandits that stole from Gron? Damn pest. So, this entire banditry was orchestrated by elves. Hahaha! It seems the Elf was also with them! I am going to sell him to some perverted nobles. Gron will be pleased to have another elf join his merchandise," Silvester laughed. There were five soldiers accompanied him.

"Here you go, peasants! You have earned it." He threw away a bag of gold to Marcus, one of the bandits that left us yesterday. The traitors went down from the soldier's horse and fled while grinning. Shit! We screwed up big time now. I can't believe that I considered them friends for a moment. If I survived these, I would chase and kill him myself.

"Damn it!" Lhorne drew his dagger, and with Mattheus and Nora, they charged at him.

"Lily! Stay strong! You are much stronger than you used to be!" I motivated her to stop her trembling hand. We were surrounded. But the soldiers that surrounded us were no match for our skills. After I made my first kill, Silvester blocked my sword, preventing me from making our second kill. I looked around and saw Mattheus, Nora, and Lhorne sprawled on the ground while groaning. Has he already defeated them?

Lhorne quickly got up with his bloodied arm and went up to the soldiers. Mattheus and Nora did the same.

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"Oh, I recognize you. You are that useless brother's pet, Aren't you? This is the second time you managed to block my sword. Let's see how much longer you can face me?" Silvester smirked.

He quickly sped up his game. Lily went on the defensive, but his speed was still manageable. His strike was fierce and precise. I need to step in sometimes to block them. Lily's body was thrown away, but her elegance didn't wane as she parried his strikes. As his victory seemed assured, I raised a flame before his eyes, and he quickly dodged in panic. His grin quickly faded as he finally understood what we were capable of.

"Everyone! Prepare to run!" Lily shouted as I was about to cast my ultimate flame spell. Tale of Fire enabled me to use anything related to fire, but it requires mana.

Mana swirled around me as flame walls rose around us. Then, among the flames, a giant shape resembling a dragon emerged. A dragon wreathed in flames stood tall against Silvester. This spell was possible after sacrificing more than 90% of my mana. The dragon then flapped his wings and exhaled its flame-filled breath.

A Sea of flames covered our entire view as I guided Lily and Mattheus to the cracks in the sea of flames I purposely made to flee. The fire dragon roared menacingly.

"DAMN YOU!!" a flash erased everything.

A sword strike made from mana grew out from its epicenter as it mowed down everything in its path. In the center lies Silvester as his sword glowed Silvery white. Another flash came out, and it clipped the dragon's wing, and then he launched forward and decapitated its head. The headless fire dragon then evaporated as it lay defeated.

We could only watch him from the distance as it roared like a beast while cursing us. We hid in a faraway tree while watching his movements.

"Damn it! Do you think we can leave?" Mattheus asked. If we want to flee, this is the chance.

"No… I want to kill him!" Lhorne, the cautious one in our group, spoke recklessly. His eye stared at him in rage while his beautiful face contorted with hatred.

"Hey. That's reckless. You see how crazy that guy is. He trashed us in five seconds!" It was rare for Mattheus to play the rational guy, but when I saw Lhorne's gaze, it shut us up.

"Run! He found us!" Lily parroted my warning. We scattered, and the sword wave cut the tree where we were before.

"Found you! Finally, some challenges. It has been two years since I need to use my full power like this. Die!" He charged at me. His clothes were ragged, and most of his body was full of burnt marks, but he charged at us as if he was more healthy.

As he unleashed his slash, I noticed his sword wave was weakening. And soon, he went back to swordsmanship. Lily retreated according to my suggestions. His swordsmanship was worse than ours, but he was faster and more violent. Lily could not find any gap, and I had to step in by distracting him with a sudden stab from my sword-wielding tail.

Swissh!

An arrow dashed towards him from his back, but he dodged it with a narrow margin. The arrow hit a tree root behind us in vain. Does he have eyes on his back? How did he know an arrow was aiming at him?

"Damn it. I can't hit him. He must have a danger sense skill!" Lhorne cursed. "Damn it. Please. Just a graze will do. I will trade my life for it…."

"We need to help Lily!" Nora said

"No. We will only be a burden. Only Lily can match him!" Mattheus said

"Lily was clearly losing!!"

"We need to run. She drew him away from us for this purpose!"

"NO! If someone were to die, Let it be me instead!" Nora dashed as she got closer to Silvester's back. Her presence was enough to put pressure on him as his movement grew anxious and his focus swayed. His steps lacked confidence, and we finally began to counter him.

"back off! pest!" He shouted, sending a sword wave at Nora. She blocked it with her sword, but she was thrown away.

"Nora!"

"Focus! Nora is fine. He is now coming right at you!" I warned Lily, and our sword dance began anew.

Swissh!

Another backup from Lhorne came, but Silvester cut the arrow down with his sword. The broken arrow was split into two in front of us.

Arrow of Proghethrade

Arrow covered with the nectar of Proghethrade

Cause Heavy Paralysis for a day

The arrowhead activated my appraisal. A light bulb suddenly went on in my head.