## Chapter 1608 – 1608. The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated Into The Baek Family
“You’ll deal with us and then go back?”
“I’d heard it, but you’re arrogant. Count Prucus.”
Two aura masters descended in front of me.
Both were middle-aged. One was missing an arm, and the other had burn scars on half his face.
“An arm cripple and a face cripple.”
Despite my provocation, they maintained their composure.
“…Hmph. I’d heard your speech was filthy, but facing you directly, it’s more absurd than infuriating.”
“Count Prucus. Now that we’ve stepped in, you have no chance of victory.”
“Don’t act so calm, old men. You must envy me. You struggled to reach the level of aura master, but I reached it at a young age, incomparable to the likes of you.”
“…Arrogant.”
“Your talent is outstanding, but your character is the worst. Lord Caliberd was right. Count Prucus, you must fall here.”
“Can you two alone bring me down? I heard there were three aura masters on your side. Where’s the other one?”
Actually, I can guess where the other one is. He’s probably protecting Princess Eileen. Princess Eileen is the most important figure as the justification for this war.
“There’s no point in talking further.”
“Die here, Count!”
The two aura masters charged at me simultaneously.
If it were me before Yuria’s body adjustments, it might have been difficult. But I’m different now.
I won’t let my guard down.
There’s no time to play around.
I’ll go all out.
‘Accelerate, Instant, Heavenly Heart.’
[Acceleration is used. It lasts for 10 minutes. Remaining stacks: 6]
[Instant is used. Remaining stacks: 5]
[Heavenly Heart is activated. It lasts for 1 minute.]
‘The fastest strike.’
Thunder Sky Style, Thunder Flash.
A streak of light aims for the vital points of the two aura masters. The aura masters’ eyes widened as they retreated. They reacted to my attack, proving they didn’t reach the aura master level for nothing. But they couldn’t dodge completely. Red blood flowed from their bodies.
‘Not much blood. Minor injuries.’
I don’t stop attacking.
The arm cripple retreated, and the face cripple stepped forward. Red aura blazed from his body like flames.
‘It’s not just flame-like in appearance. It actually carries heat.’
It’s probably something like a special secret sword technique passed down through his family.
‘Doesn’t matter.’
I trust the armor covering my body, Stormbreaker.
“Did you think these flames were weak? These flames will even burn through your armor!”
[Instant is used. Remaining stacks: 4]
I use Instant to swing my sword.
Clang!
The attack was blocked. He had predicted and prepared for my strike. The face cripple curled his lip into a smile. He was confident in his victory. And he had reason to be. His aura flames were moving to cling to my body.
But they couldn’t burn me.
‘Heavenly Heart is working.’
During the 1 minute that Heavenly Heart is active, I’m immune to status ailments. It seems Heavenly Heart considers burns a status ailment.
Thwack!
The sword pierced the face cripple’s solar plexus. It definitely pierced his heart. He coughed up blood. His eyes widened in disbelief as he cried out.
“Impossible! Why didn’t Caros’s flames…!?”
“Consider yourself unlucky. Of course, I think luck is also a skill. Heh heh.”
I kicked his body. He fell to the ground with a thud and didn’t move. My gaze turned to the remaining aura master, the arm cripple. He was crouching, his hand on the sword hilt at his waist, in a drawing stance.
“What’s with the drawing sword technique in a fantasy? It doesn’t suit you at all.”
Huuuup.
The arm cripple inhaled and tensed his muscles. His muscles twitched. It was an unnatural movement of muscles.
‘Like the face cripple, it must be a secret technique.’
I moved forward.
“Too arrogant. You’re within my range now.”
“Instead of spouting such words, why don’t you swing your sword?”
“I already did.”
“I know.”
I can feel it.
This range, this space is filled with invisible sword energy.
[Instant is used. Remaining stacks: 3]
I use Instant to move. But it was meaningless. Even with Instant, it’s impossible to completely avoid the sword energy.
The sword energy flew and struck Stormbreaker’s armor. It wasn’t strong enough to cut through Stormbreaker’s armor. But the impact didn’t disappear and was transmitted to my body, protected by the armor. Ignoring the throbbing pain, I pushed forward.
“You’re crazy. You’ve walked into your own death.”
“That arm, now that I look at it, it’s not a real arm. Is it an artifact?”
“It’s the arm that made me an aura master.”
He smiled. Blood flowed from his mouth and eyes. It seemed to be the price for using the artifact’s power. At the same time, the power of the slash flying towards me intensified.
I started running towards him. The closer I got, the stronger and more numerous the sword energies became.
With less than five steps left, he was amazed.
“You’re the first to get this close. Aren’t you afraid of death?”
“Death? Ah, I’ve experienced it a lot… but I don’t feel like I’m going to die right now.”
“You insolent bastard.”
His arm moved.
At the same time, my arm moved too. My attack was slightly late.
Thunder Sky Style, Thunder Flash.
But the Fire Lotus Dagger cut his arm faster. His slash lost its direction and flew off to the side. The sword energy that filled the space disappeared.
“…I couldn’t even see it properly. That quick sword technique. It’s worthy of recognition.”
“It was a fluke.”
“…Are you being humble now? That’s absurd.”
“It really was a fluke.”
I thought that blocking his slash would be the best I could do. But Thunder Flash accelerated mid-swing. I don’t know the reason. There was no time to analyze the reason. I guess it’s probably because of the thunder energy.
Swoosh!
I cut the arm cripple’s body. I killed the second aura master.
I looked around. Knights and soldiers were watching me with shocked expressions.
“You were so eager to surround me… aren’t you going to attack?”
A man who seemed to be a veteran knight gritted his teeth and raised his sword.
“Kill Count Prucus! If we kill him, this war will end! We will grant a title, land, and a reward to whoever kills Count Prucus!!”
“Waaaaah!”
The soldiers shouted and forcibly raised their morale.
“Th-the enemy is here!!!”
One soldier threw a wet blanket on the situation.
The knights and soldiers turned their heads to the side. On the hill to the right, the reinforcements who had come to help Tevra were visible.
“They came faster than I thought. But that flag…”
A flag with a sword in the sun.
It’s a flag I remember.
Elva Soltes.
The female viscount of the Soltes family.
She was a woman who inherited the title after her father, the previous viscount, died suddenly of illness. She was also a heroine who went to war to protect her declining family.
And she was the woman who sold her body to borrow 50 billion ner from me. Of course, that 50 billion ner is still an unpaid debt.
“I never thought she’d come here.”
Did she come to repay her debt? No way. She gave me her virginity to borrow 50 billion ner for war expenses. She’s not that innocent or loyal.
Elva Soltes judged that I would win this war and jumped on the bandwagon.
‘A sharp-eyed woman with a good head on her shoulders. I heard she gained quite a bit in this war too?’
And she was also a woman with good instincts.
I repeated Elva Soltes’s name. Since she was the first to join as reinforcements, I should reward her later.
‘The number of reinforcements is quite large. Especially the cavalry, there are over 300 of them. In that case… there’s no need to retreat.’
Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!
I heard the sound of chains rolling.
I quickly turned my head to the side. Shadow chains were rising from where Princess Eileen was being held captive. At the end of the shadow chains, a middle-aged man was pierced and killed. It must have been the remaining aura master.
‘It’s a signal from Yuria.’
Yuria can move more quietly than anyone. A place guarded by an aura master? If Yuria sets her mind to it, assassinating him quietly is nothing. The reason she killed the aura master so flamboyantly is obvious.
‘She’s drawing the attention of the archmages. Yuria has secured Princess Eileen.’
Yuria also wanted to see this through to the end.
I grinned.
Maybe it’s because I absorbed the power of the labyrinth, but my body was still fresh. I didn’t tire easily.
‘Three archmages are rushing towards Yuria. Foolish guys, do they think they can stop Yuria with just three of them?’
The knights, including Floy, were stirring up the inside of the battlefield, and the reinforcements were pressing from the outside.
‘The tide is turning in our favor. To secure victory… I need to deal with the magic weapons.’
A chilling coldness was felt.
I quickly jumped to the side.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The place where I was standing froze in an instant. I looked up at the mage floating in the sky.
Archmage Segane.
She was an old woman with neatly arranged white hair. She wore glasses, and the wrinkles on her face were deep but not ugly. Her gaze was as cold as her magic.
Segane waved her staff. A giant ice spear fell towards me.
Thunder Sky Style, Void Path.
Stepping on the void, I jumped into the sky. Countless icicles flew to block my path. I swung the Fire Lotus Dagger and shattered the icicles. The broken ice shards didn’t fall down but remained in the air.
“Frost Prison.”
The ice shards became a sphere that enveloped me. Coldness seeped into my body. It felt like my blood and bones were freezing.
Crackle.
Thunder energy flowed. It burned away all the coldness trying to invade my body. With vitality surging through my body, I broke through the frost prison and approached Segane. The tip of the Fire Lotus Dagger aimed for her neck.
“Oh, King of Frost.”
A giant made of ice appeared in the air. The giant roared and body-slammed me.
[Instant is used. Remaining stacks: 2]
I used Instant, but I couldn’t avoid it. The ice giant was too big. I fell to the ground with the ice giant and was buried in the ground.
The ice giant couldn’t withstand the impact of the fall and shattered, covering my body. I groaned and glared at Segane, who was floating leisurely in the sky.
I grabbed the bracelet I summoned from my inventory.
“…Meteor Sword.”
A giant sword created in the sky fell towards Segane. It was too late when Segane realized it. Segane fell to the ground with the meteor sword.
I pushed away the ice covering my body and got up. I suppressed the surging blood and looked at the place where the meteor sword had fallen. Segane was pierced by the giant sword and was dead in a gruesome manner.
‘Two archmages are dead… that leaves five.’
Three of them went to fight Yuria.
‘We’ve almost won.’
