Rylan dashed towards the enemy, unwilling to let it get too close to the soldiers before he knew what it was capable of. The distance between the two was narrowed by the second. The moment he got within two meters of the troll, it raised its right arm, claws glinting against the rays of sunlight that pierced through the canopies. Rylan reacted.

Falling Snow Steps: Drifting.

His speed rose suddenly. Lightly stepping to the side and tilting his body without losing his balance in the least, he avoided the attack. The claws almost grazed his body but hit nothing but air in the end, rattling the atmosphere.

It’s slow.

As he had expected, because of its large size and weight, its speed was subpar. However, that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous. He possessed Roland’s memories and experience, which allowed him to predict the moves of a simple monster almost to the level of foresight. That wasn’t true for the soldiers. He looked at the sharp claws and spoke loudly.

“You can’t allow yourselves to get hit. Even though you’re wearing armor, the impact alone will injure you. Utilize your superior numbers to your advantage. So long as you can keep circling the troll and attacking it in turns, you guys will be fine. Prioritize moving to a favorable position over attacks.”

The troll’s left hand clawed at him in a horizontal swipe as it twisted its body. Instead of stepping back, he ducked diagonally right beneath the attack, taking advantage of his relatively small size. The air displaced by the swipe reminded him of a small breeze. The scent of the dry blood that stuck to the claws reached him. He grabbed the sword’s hilt with both hands, lowered his center of gravity, and slashed at the creature’s front leg. His sword cut through the air and found its mark, creating a gash, but it wasn’t deep. Only a few drops of blood flowed. He continued to speak.

“Its hide is tough. It will be difficult to wound it with slashes. Focus on stabbing the weaknesses of its lower body. If you can make it kneel or lower its body, aim for its eyes. Blinding it will mean the end of the fight. After that, it’ll just be a matter of time.”

He kept dodging the claw swipes. The monster tried to move around, likely to find better angles of attack, but Rylan destroyed such attempts as if he could see the future. By watching the monster’s muscles and figure, he could figure out what its next move was. It was a fighting style only made possible by Roland’s century of experience. He took full advantage of the Falling Snow Steps’ low mana cost, avoiding all attacks cleanly by just a hair. The wind rustled his hair, while the monster’s roars rattled his eardrums. But, in the end, not a single attack hit its mark.

This is it.

This was what made him feel alive. He smiled. Every time the troll’s giant claws missed his face by a few centimeters, the feeling intensified. However, he knew he couldn’t just keep playing around like this. He continued to slash and stab the monster to keep its attention on him, using different amounts of strength each time and trying to gauge the hide’s toughness.

After he had a solid grasp of its capabilities, he used the Falling Snow Steps to retreat rapidly to the soldiers’ side. The troll looked at the group while baring its fangs.

“Your turn. Be careful and patient and you can defeat it.”

With nervous expressions, the soldiers stepped forward. Jack was at the forefront, speaking with gritted teeth.

“We can do this. Surround it!”

The seven soldiers split up, running. They circled the troll as it alternated between looking at each of them. Jack and Scott stood in front of it, Daniel and Raniel each at one side, and the others flanked it. The troll turned around, showing its back to Jack and Scott as it raised its arm. The two soldiers moved simultaneously, lunging and slashing at the back of the troll’s knees. With powerful steps, they crushed the grass underfoot.

Rylan nodded to himself. It was a good choice. They had aimed for the greatest weakness in the troll’s lower body. Holding his sword, he circulated his mana unceasingly, ready to jump in at a moment’s notice. He was confident in his ability to help the soldiers before one of them was injured, given the monster’s slow speed. He spoke to Sarah.

“Be prepared to step in and help them if the need arises. Follow my lead.”

She nodded. He could feel the mana moving within her.

As the swords reached their target, the hide was pierced. Jack and Scott had clearly put their full weight into the attacks, yet the swords only dug in for a few centimeters before stopping in place. The two of them blinked, drops of sweat sliding down their brow. The troll looked over its shoulder with a scowl, still with a raised arm. Rylan yelled.

“Step back!”

Unhesitatingly, the two soldiers pulled their swords back and retreated. Barely a second later, the troll spun, backhanding the space where they had just been. The air shook from the power behind the blow as the leaves on the ground flew. It snarled deeply. Daniel didn’t miss this chance, staying true to his ability to capitalize on weaknesses. He immediately stepped forward and slashed the troll’s thigh, drawing a line of blood. The wound was shallow. Rylan spoke.

“Keep at it! Always target its back and sides to distract it from the ones it’s looking at!”

Tightening their grip on their swords’ handles, the other soldiers attacked. Raniel thrust at the monster’s other thigh repeatedly, creating shallow but numerous injuries. The troll kept turning in place and swiping with its claws. None of the soldiers attempted to block the swipes, as that would mean their end. They attacked in turns, following Rylan’s advice. The battle went on.

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They’re overcoming their fear.

Slowly, the soldiers’ attacks became more accurate and stronger. The stabs kept digging into the troll’s lower body, while slashes drew more blood. Yet, not all of the soldiers were able to get through the troll’s defenses. As Rylan expected, the twins, Scott, and Jack were the most remarkable. They moved around the troll, always making sure that at least two of them had a clear attack path. They didn’t overextend themselves or get too confident, always retreating the moment the troll started its attack motion. When the other soldiers diverted its attention, they advanced.

However, humans made mistakes. It happened as one of the soldiers stabbed the troll’s foot. The sword dug into it, but as he tried to pull it out, it didn’t come out easily. He blinked. The troll turned to the soldier and raised its arm. Rylan shot forward with Drifting as the attack was about to descend.

He only had the time to push the soldier out of the way. The blow arrived. It was as if the world were moving in slow motion. Rylan could feel his body heat up as his mana roared. He knew where the troll was aiming for, but his current abilities couldn’t stop it. The only choice was to try and dodge while minimizing the damage. Drifting increased his speed. The claws reached his shirt and tore it open as if it were made of paper. Mana flooded every corner of his body as he twisted in place, as if parrying the attack with his whole body.

The claws ripped their way through his skin and flesh, but because of the way he had moved, they didn’t continue into his torso, instead almost sliding off him. Three lines of blood appeared on Rylan’s chest, but he didn’t even grunt. In a flash, he dashed forward and grabbed the soldier’s sword, which was still stuck to the troll’s foot, pulled it out in a single swift movement, and threw it to its owner. Then, he stepped back.

“Try again. You guys were doing well.”

All of the soldiers were looking at him. He frowned.

“Focus!”

They blinked, as if remembering that they were in the middle of a battle. All of them hurriedly retreated, making the troll’s attack hit nothing but air. They took control of the battle’s flow. Rylan touched his wounds with his free hand.

They’re not too deep.

Still, they would likely leave a scar. It was shameful for the Sword Saint to be injured by something as weak as a troll, but it was the reality he found himself in.

No. I’m no longer the Sword Saint.

Roland’s memories remained, but not his power. He couldn’t think of himself as who he used to be in his last life. In any case, trolls were powerful opponents for Rylan, but not too hard to beat. If he hadn’t had to push the soldier out of harm’s way, he would have been able to cleanly dodge the monster’s claws. With blood on his fingertips, he kept watching the battle, ready to spring to action should the need arise again. Sarah approached him from behind.

“My lord! You need healing!”

He waved his hand dismissively, not taking his eyes off the battle. She frowned, looking at the soldiers.

The number of wounds on the troll’s lower body slowly increased. Scarlet blood flowed freely, falling on the soft earth and dyeing the blades of grass. The troll emitted rumbling, guttural sounds, but failed to deal with the number of enemies.

It’s large and strong but lacks intelligence.

Its intelligence didn’t compare even to a hobgoblin, which was capable of some leadership. If it were smarter, it would have realized that the soldiers were unable to inflict too much damage at once and focused on a single enemy. So long as it single-mindedly attacked only one or two of the soldiers and ignored the weak attacks of the others, it would eventually manage to land an attack, which would be enough.

It was then. As Jack and Scott’s blades pierced the back of the troll’s knees, its legs shook and faltered. Its body lowered as it stumbled in place. The towering figure was dragged almost to its knees.

“Now!”

Jack moved in an instant. His sword cut through the air, landing on the troll’s face. The horizontal slash cut its eyes, reducing them to a mess. Blood flowed. The creature’s hands covered them.

Good!

For the first time, the troll opened its maw wide and took a deep breath. Rylan tightened his grip on the hilt and dashed forward. The roar that followed seemed to shake the very atmosphere. The leaves on the canopies shook and fell, drifting in the air. The ground vibrated. The soldiers stumbled backwards, raising their free hand to an ear. Rylan frowned but continued to run. Once he reached the troll, the roar died out. The sound of a second set of heavy footsteps reached him.

Without hesitating, Rylan sunk his blade in the troll’s eye socket, as far as he could. He was glad that the monster’s eyes were large; because of that, his sword went in deeply. He pulled it out, then stabbed the place where the monster’s carotid artery should be. As he pulled his sword out, blood gushed out of the injury. He did the same for the other side of its neck, avoided a claw swipe by ducking as the troll struggled to rise to its feet, and put as much power as he could into a slash to the enemy’s throat. The troll fell to the ground.

[You have reached Level 15.]

There was no time to celebrate his victory. He turned to the direction of the sound of footsteps. A troll even bigger than the one the soldiers had fought appeared, sprinting towards the group and crushing the grass underneath its feet. This one was over three meters tall and appeared to be even stronger, but it actually ran faster than the defeated troll. It bared its fangs, roaring. The air shook.

Rylan spoke.

“Stay back. I’ll deal with this one.”

Scott replied immediately.

“Okay.”

Jack glanced at him and spoke.

“Are you sure, young master? We can do this together.”

Scott scoffed.

“The master doesn’t need our help. Let him take all the XP for this kill.”

Jack frowned and looked at him. Before the two men could start arguing at the worst time possible, Rylan waved his hand, keeping his eyes on the charging troll. The distance between them was being reduced rapidly. He spoke.

“Retreat. Now. That goes for you too, Sarah.”

She immediately replied from behind him.

“Young master, I can’t—”

“It’s an order. You will not interfere.”

His tone didn’t allow any objections. None of the soldiers said anything as they moved away. Once they were a few meters away, Rylan ran towards the troll. The creature attempted to charge into him with its shoulder.

Falling Snow Steps: Drifting.

His speed increased suddenly as his mana circulated as fast as possible. He jumped to the side, avoiding the charge. In an instant, his dodge flowed into an attack as his sword sunk into the back of the troll’s thigh.

Its hide is thicker.

The creature ground to a stop, upturning the earth due to its size and weight. Then, it looked at the group of soldiers, which kept retreating. Rylan frowned. He couldn’t let the troll go after the soldiers. Another stab reached the back of the troll’s right knee. The creature looked at him and attempted to backhand him. He ducked under the attack, taking advantage of the fact that the troll needed to practically crouch to hit him. His sword drew a line of blood on the troll’s belly. He spoke.

“It’s you and me. Don’t look away, now.”

It was time for him to kill the strongest enemy he faced in this life so far.