Chapter 45: Fighting the Leader
Kai looked at the leader and gave him a cheeky smile. "Well, I did draw with her. If you don’t believe it, you can come at me," he said.
The leader frowned. He knew exactly what Kai was trying to do, bait him into a fight. And if Kai was doing that so confidently, then it meant he believed he could win. That alone made him cautious.
"If you truly fought Gamela to a draw, then you wouldn’t have the strength to fight me now," the leader said. "You wouldn’t have recovered enough. So either you didn’t fight her... or you’re bluffing." He smirked slightly. "I’m leaning toward the second."
Kai didn’t react. His smile didn’t falter. He simply gripped his sword and shifted into a battle stance. "Then come at me."
The leader’s frown deepened. Not even a hint of hesitation.
"Come on, boss, just deal with him already," one of the men behind said impatiently.
The leader exhaled and pulled his long sword from his back. He was still skeptical, but he didn’t believe he would lose. "Since you want to fight so badly, I’ll make sure you regret it."
He launched forward in a flash.
But Kai had already prepared. While talking, he had used Appraise on the leader to gauge his strength. When he tried it on Gamela earlier, it had failed completely, blocked, just like it was with Mira. That alone told him she was far stronger than him. But with the leader, it worked.
That meant one thing, the leader wasn’t anywhere close to Gamela’s level.
Kai had already seen his stats. Impressive, yes... but nothing he needed to worry about.
The leader rushed in with a wide slash aimed straight for Kai’s head, confident it would be enough to end the fight instantly and let him return to his raid. But Kai moved calmly, a confident smile still on his face. He raised his sword and blocked the attack in one clean motion. Clang! Their blades collided, sparks flying out as the sound rang sharply. Kai didn’t budge an inch from the impact. He simply looked at the leader and smiled.
Kai moved to counter immediately, but the leader reacted fast and leaped back several meters, creating distance. He clenched his jaw, staring at Kai. "Seems you have some tricks," he said.
Kai only smiled, giving no real response.
"Come on, boss, stop toying with him," one of the followers shouted.
The leader’s expression hardened. Under the pressure and his own pride, he surged forward again, this time faster. His sword moved in a blur as he unleashed a flurry of slashes, each one quicker and sharper than the last. Kai stepped back as he blocked every single strike, his movements controlled and precise. Despite the intensity of the assault, the leader couldn’t land a clean hit.
Then Kai saw it, an opening.
In an instant, he pushed forward and thrust his blade straight toward the leader’s chest. The leader’s eyes widened as the sword shot toward him. He twisted his body and tried to dodge, but he was just a fraction too slow.
The blade grazed his side.
Blood spilled out, not a fatal wound, but enough.
He jumped back immediately, putting distance between them again, his eyes locked on Kai’s sword in shock.
He had been hit.
By someone he thought he could kill in a single move.
The leader stared at the blood on his side, his breath slightly uneven, his eyes locked onto Kai like he was trying to understand what had just happened. For a moment, there was silence.
Then—
"Boss! What are you doing?!" one of his followers shouted.
"You’re really getting pushed back by him?!"
"You can’t lose to someone like that!"
The words hit harder than the blade.
The leader’s expression twisted, his jaw tightening as veins bulged on his forehead. The embarrassment, the pressure, the fact that he had been cut, it all mixed into one thing.
Rage.
"You...!" he growled, gripping his sword tighter. "You think landing one hit makes you better than me?"
Kai didn’t answer. He just stood there, relaxed, sword resting lightly in his hand, that same annoying smile still on his face.
That silence only made it worse.
The leader stomped forward, the ground beneath his feet cracking slightly as he launched again, faster than before. His sword came down in a heavy vertical slash aimed straight at Kai’s skull.
Kai stepped to the side.
The blade slammed into the ground, cracking it open.
He twisted his body and swung again, horizontal this time, aiming to cut Kai in half.
Kai raised his blade.
Clang!
He blocked it cleanly.
But this time, something felt different.
Kai’s eyes narrowed slightly.
The force... increased.
The leader didn’t stop. He kept swinging, again, and again, and again. Each strike came faster, heavier, more aggressive than the last.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Kai blocked, stepped back, shifted his stance, deflected, dodged.
His mind was already working.
’The power is increasing... not randomly.’
Another slash came down. Kai parried it to the side and slid back a step, his eyes locked on the leader.
’Momentum.’
The leader roared, swinging again with even more force. "Stay still and die!"
Kai tilted his head slightly as he dodged, the blade passing just inches from his face.
’Each swing is heavier than the last... He’s stacking force.’
The leader’s followers began shouting louder.
"That’s it, boss!"
"Crush him!"
"Don’t let him breathe!"
The leader pressed forward even harder, his attacks becoming a storm of steel. His sword carved through the air with terrifying speed, each swing carrying more weight, more pressure.
Kai blocked another strike.
BOOM!
The ground beneath his feet cracked slightly this time.
’Confirmed.’
Kai’s smile widened just a little.
’Warrior class... momentum-based amplification skill or something.’
The leader didn’t notice. He was too deep into it now, too consumed by his anger and the rhythm of his attacks.
He swung again.
And again.
And again.
Each one stronger.
Each one faster.
Each one more dangerous.
Kai moved like flowing water, his body weaving through the attacks, his blade meeting each strike at the perfect angle to redirect the force rather than take it head-on.
Clang!
Another block.
Clang!
Another deflection.
Step. Shift. Turn.
He wasn’t just reacting anymore.
He was reading.
’If I let this continue... his attacks will eventually reach a threshold where even blocking becomes dangerous.’
The leader roared again, his sword glowing faintly as his class fully activated. His aura flared, his muscles tightening, his swings now carrying explosive force.
"You can’t keep dodging forever!" he shouted, bringing his blade down with a roar.
Kai stepped back just enough for the blade to miss him by a hair’s breadth.
Kai’s eyes sharpened.
’I don’t need to dodge forever... I just need to outlast his build-up.’
Another swing came.
Kai ducked under it.
Another.
He pivoted around it.
Another.
He parried lightly, letting the force slide past him instead of clashing directly.
The leader’s breathing grew heavier.
But his attacks kept getting stronger.
Stronger.
Stronger.
The air itself began to ripple with the force of his swings.
"DIE!" he roared, swinging with everything he had.
Kai blocked, but this time, instead of holding his ground, he redirected the blade downward and stepped to the side.
The leader stumbled slightly.
Just for a fraction of a second.
Kai saw it.
"There it is."
The leader’s attacks were getting stronger, but also harder to control.
Kai’s smile widened.
The leader attacked again, faster, heavier, more desperate.
Kai dodged.
Again.
And again.
Each movement precise.
Each step calculated.
The leader’s frustration grew with every missed hit.
"Stop running!" he roared.
"I’m not running," Kai replied calmly.
And then, Kai stepped in.
The leader swung.
Kai tilted his body just enough for the blade to miss, then tapped the flat of his sword against the leader’s wrist.
Not a full attack.
Just enough to disrupt.
The leader’s swing went off balance.
Kai moved again.
A step to the side.
A slight turn.
Another tap, this time to the elbow.
The leader’s rhythm broke.
Just a little.
But it was enough.
"What—?!" the leader’s eyes widened.
Kai didn’t give him time.
He stepped in fully now.
Their swords clashed again—
Clang!
But this time, Kai was the one pressing forward.
The leader tried to swing again, to rebuild his momentum—
But Kai was already inside his range.
Too close.
Too fast.
Kai’s blade moved.
A sharp cut across the leader’s shoulder.
Blood spilled.
The leader staggered.
"No...!" he gritted his teeth, trying to swing again.
Kai dodged easily.
Another cut, this time across the thigh.