A little far away from where Arthur’s fight was ensuing, Isla and Uhl were engaging in a brutal battle of their own. The two were moving like blinking flashes of light, clashing violently with their weapons.
*ZZZZ*
Uhl’s giant blade sizzled with electric current as it hit Isla’s sword, sending a current through it. The girl felt her muscles spasm for a moment, rendering her unable to move. Uhl took that opportunity and attacked her, aiming to finish the fight quickly.
However, at that moment, he was hit in the side by a flying rock. His eyes widened as he groaned loudly then he fell to the side. Isla quickly shook the rigidness and grabbed her sword as she leaped on the mercenary.
The latter tried to dodge, but Isla quickly manipulated her gravity and pinned him in place as she plunged her sword into his chest.
‘Shit! She’s going to kill me! Lightning Burst!’ Feeling the horrifying thing about to happen to him, the man channeled all his mana into his body. Then, out of nowhere. His body suddenly exploded with a giant burst of lightning that sent a massive shockwave everywhere around him.
“AAAAAGH!!!” The man screamed in agony as his body was assaulted with an inhumane amount of voltage. The shockwave launched Isla back into the air falling into the snow violently.
An intense amount of energy coursed through her body, turning her muscles into a spasming mess. The lightning was so strong that she felt her heart as if it was about to explode. She slowly rose from the ground as she coughed weakly.
‘So much… Current…’ She clenched her teeth and slowly stood up. At the same time, Uhl rose up from the ground as he breathed heavily.
‘I can’t kill her… She’s way too strong and her ability is too tricky to deal with.’
Although the battle seemed to be equal on the surface, Uhl was aware that he was being pushed back into defense more and more with each passing second. Isla was winning.
‘Think, think… What should I do?’ He clenched his teeth.
Isla wiped her face before she picked up her sword and dashed forward. She didn’t even spare a breath to speak or say anything. The fight had been going on for several minutes without her saying a single word and that played with Uhl’s mind. He couldn’t read what she was thinking about in her cold expression either.
*CLING*
The two clashed swords again as he stared into her cold eyes. Uhl felt almost powerless in Isla’s presence. Even though they had only met a few minutes ago, he felt a heavy, oppressing aura basically oozing out of the girl without her even trying. It was something he only saw in the royal family who had the true power. An aura of someone who is truly superior in every sense of the word. Even though Isla wasn’t way stronger than him, her pure aura made him feel like he was way too inferior to keep up.
‘Why am I feeling like this? What is happening?’
Without realizing it, his mind went into a whole different world. His entire body started feeling a welling fear that only grew and bubbled with each passing second.
*CLING* *CLING*
Isla noticed the subtle change in Uhl’s attitude. He was clearly not as aggressive as before for some reason and she didn’t know why. Something was happening with him.
But, Isla didn’t wait for him to figure out anything as she became even more aggressive. Swinging her sword as fast as she could, she pushed him back. His giant blade tried to keep up but it failed miserably. Attack after attack, her blade started penetrating the man’s defenses. Small cuts appeared on his arms and torso as blood covered his clothes.
‘Faster!’ Isla’s eyes grew even more hostile as she increased her speed even more as if she was trying to break her limit. She didn’t care if she had to put everything into it, she was going to kill that man.
‘Faster!’
Uhl’s eyes were barely able to keep up with the relentless attacks. He felt as if he was fighting a machine rather than a human. In his entire career as a mercenary, he had never been in such a tough position.
‘Is this… Ugh, what a Gifted Player is like?!’ With a terrified look on his face, he finally realized why the royal family had put a lot of trust in these individuals. All he heard about them were drunk rumors and gossip.
He had heard that these individuals could become the new rulers of the Divine Realm and the true powerhouse that would change the entire world as they knew it. He didn’t believe those things as the Divine Realm was already ruled by beings who are almost as strong as gods.
A bunch of newbies could never reach that level, could they?
The realization came to him at that moment. These people had arrived in this world merely a few days ago… Yet, they were already at a level where they could defeat seasoned mercenaries like Uhl and his companions.
*Swish*
It didn’t take a few seconds before Isla finally broke through the solid defenses of the mercenary. Pushing him back, she slid down, tackling him with her left leg. The man’s eyes widened as he fell to the ground.
‘Now!’ Isla used that moment as she attacked the mercenary. This time, she knew that she wasn’t going to spare him this time.
At that very moment, the man cried loudly. “Please… Spare me!!”
*Swish*
But, it was far too late. The sword plunged into his neck piercing it swiftly. Uhl’s eyes widened as he stared up at Isla. Blood slowly seeped out of his mouth and from the gruesome injury he sustained.
“… Curse… You… Gifted… Ones…” He muttered with his last breath as he finally stopped moving.
[Ding!]
[You have killed level 22 Royal Mercenary.]
[+2 Strength, +3 Agility.]
[Ding!]
[Two new items have been acquired. Check inventory.]
“…” Isla stared down at the man’s empty eyes as she slowly pulled her sword out. She didn’t react at all to what she did.
“Fuuh…” Exhaling, she swung her sword to the side to get rid of the blood and turned around to look for Arthur. At that moment, she stopped as she stared into the distance in shock.
Her eyes fell on a flying silhouette launched in the air. Then, out of nowhere, several projectiles hit the silhouette followed by a giant ball of blue flames.
*BOOOOOOM*
Van’s body landed on the ground, motionless. Arthur approached him slowly. His battle with Van was hard, and it made him push himself. But, once Arthur used several of his abilities in succession, the difference in power was immediately established.
‘Damn it, I almost got killed more than once.’ Spitting out a mouthful of saliva, he lifted his clawed hand.
Standing in front of the dying man, he inspected his condition and the boy frowned for the first time. The man had several arrow holes in his body and ice covering a good chunk of his torso. He was struggling to even breathe as he tried to move his shaking hand.
“It never really had to reach this point, Van. Why would you put your life on the line and for what, for attacking two innocent children?” Arthur asked. Although he felt no sympathy for this man as he and his friends had almost killed both dwarves without hesitation, he still didn’t understand why he would do all of this just to capture them and send them to prison.
The response he received at that moment hit Arthur where he expected.
“They’re… Not… Human…”
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3
