Sword Saint's Reincarnation

Rylan grasped Silver Twilight’s hilt firmly as he watched the battle unfolding in front of him with rapt attention. Ahead, his three siblings fought together against a group of nine skeletons.

The enemies themselves were similar to the Undead Soldiers when it came to their equipment, but unlike the Soldiers, they had no skin or flesh whatsoever, consisting only of humanoid skeletons animated by their own mana. It was this exact characteristic that made the Skeleton Warriors tough to handle.

The only way to do enough damage to affect their movements is to break their bones.

And because they were at the level of the Fifth Circle, none of his siblings could do it. Rylan furrowed his brow, but continued to watch. The rest of the group stood behind him, guarded by Mar’s Mages, including Sarah’s siblings, who were hiding behind her. Rylan looked over his shoulder at Elliot. The boy was staring at the battle with a nervous expression, but Rylan could still see some determination in his eyes. He nodded approvingly to himself before turning his attention back to the fight.

Regis, Lillia, and Aelfric moved around, trying to create distance from the Skeleton Warriors as they remained in a triangle formation, as Rylan had advised, with Regis at the forefront.

The closest Skeleton dashed toward Regis. He quickly raised his wand, pointing at the enemy’s head as his mana resonated with the world around him. Solid stone took shape in front of him in the shape of a sphere, which then flew toward the Skeleton Warrior like a cannonball. Rylan nodded to himself.

Against them, blunt damage is the best choice.

The most important thing was breaking their bones to hinder their movements. However, once the projectile was close enough, the Skeleton merely swung its cracked steel sword. The blade sliced through the magical stone to split the boulder in half. Both halves fell harmlessly to the sides as the Warrior continued to advance. Regis gritted his teeth and continued to cast. Before he could finish, Lillia waved her wand. Vines sprouted from the cracks in the floor and wrapped themselves around the Skeleton’s legs, causing it to trip and stumble. A moment later, it pulled one leg, forcefully ripping the vines apart, before doing the same with the other leg. It continued to advance.

Meanwhile, another Skeleton Warrior came for Aelfric, on the other side of the formation. The floor in front of him rippled before rising in the shape of Earth Spikes that pierced through the gaps between the Skeleton’s ribs, lifting it into the air and effectively neutralizing it. The creature looked down and grabbed one Spike with its free hand as it hit another with the butt of its sword’s hilt. Its bony fingers sank into the stone, cracking it. The cracks spread throughout the entire Spike until it shattered a few seconds later, alongside the other one that had been hit by the sword’s hilt. The Skeleton repeated the process until enough Spikes had been broken and resumed its run.

“Move back!” Regis shouted as he narrowly avoided a slash.

Without replying, both Lillia and Aelfric took several steps back, closer to Rylan’s position, and looked over their shoulders at him, their eyes betraying their nervousness. Rylan nodded at them with a severe expression, causing them to grit their teeth and look ahead again. Two more Skeleton Warriors came at them, and they were forced to move again to avoid their attacks, followed by Regis. Still staying in formation, they tried to move around the enemies, but the Warriors easily kept up with their movements. Rylan watched all of this happen as his grip around Silver Twilight’s hilt got tighter.

They can’t win. They’ll be injured soon.

To begin with, they never had a chance against nine enemies at the level of the Fifth Circle. The only saving grace was that the Skeletons weren’t too fast, which they compensated for with their durability and strength. As if on cue, it happened. For the first time since the battle’s start, a Skeleton Warrior’s rusted blade reached its mark. The Skeleton approached Lillia, who had just dodged an attack. She looked at it, but was clearly too slow to react. The blade sliced through her left thigh, creating a deep gash amidst a burst of scarlet. She screamed and lost strength in the injured leg, falling.

“Lillia!” Aelfric yelled as he looked at her.

However, in a battle, a split second of distraction can be costly. Exploiting this opening, another Warrior slashed Aelfric’s right arm. The blade tore through the arm muscles, forcing Aelfric to drop his wand with a scream.

“Rylan!” Elizabeth shouted from behind Rylan as she took a step forward, but Gerard grabbed her shoulder.

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Rylan gritted his teeth and continued to watch. With Lillia unable to walk, Regis and Aelfric were forced to move closer to her and guard her. Without moving around, they naturally couldn’t take advantage of the Warriors’ slow speed. Injuries quickly mounted over the next few seconds, starting with shallow cuts and rapidly progressing into stab wounds and deeper injuries as they desperately struggled to stay alive amidst pained screams.

“Rylan!” Elizabeth shouted again, her desperation clear in her voice.

One of the Warriors raised its sword over its head, clearly positioned to split Regis in half. Regis looked at him and shivered. Rylan couldn’t see his eyes or his expression, but he didn’t need to be able to guess how his brother was feeling. Both Aelfric and Lillia had already fallen to the ground behind him, with one of the Warriors having placed its foot on Aelfric’s chest, its sword pointing straight at the boy’s neck.

This is their limit.

Rylan dashed forward, circulating both his mana and Aura, and swung his sword.

Stormcaller Sword Style, Second Movement: Crackling Edge.

His twin energies roared out of his sword in the shape of a half-moon that spanned one side of the immense hallway to the other, crackling with the power of a lightning bolt. The half-moon quickly reached the necks of every single Skeleton Warrior as it flew forward, covering the distance between them in a blink. A heartbeat later, their heads disappeared, alongside their rusted helmets. What remained of the Warriors collapsed.

“Melvin,” Rylan quickly said.

Without a word, the man stepped forward and waved his wand. Green mana flooded the hallway and sank into Regis, Lillia, and Aelfric, mending their injuries in real time. In only a few seconds, they were gone. The three of them stood up again, looking down at their torn clothes.

“…Fucking hell,” Regis finally said after a few seconds. “I know we need it, but goddamn.”

“Rylan. You could’ve intervened earlier. Is this really the best way to do this?” Elizabeth said in a reprimanding tone from behind, making Rylan turn around and look at her. She looked furious, with veins bulging on her forehead and a reddened face.

“I don’t know,” Rylan replied honestly. “But it’s the most effective one and the only one I know.”

She blinked, clearly caught off guard by his second reason.

“I agree with Rylan,” Philip suddenly said, making everyone look at him. “It’s best if they train in real battles under our watch, where they’re as safe as they can be. Better than having them go on missions by themselves and fight against real monsters. They could die.”

Elizabeth gritted her teeth and looked down. Gerard laid a hand on her shoulder.

“I understand your pain, my love,” he said. “But I also agree with Rylan.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I agree, too,” Regis said as he walked closer to the group with a frown. “But I don’t have to like it.”

Both Lillia and Regis nodded behind him, looking tired and pained. Rylan smiled sadly at them.

“I’m sorry you have to go through this. If I could, I wouldn’t have put you through any of this, but I can’t be in two places at once. You must be able to protect yourselves,” he stated. “Or try to get there, at least.”

The three of them nodded again, returning to the group. Rylan threw a glance at Elliot. The boy appeared to be deep in thought.

“Can I ask something?” Cecilia suddenly said, making everyone look at her. “What was that you just did? It wasn’t a spell, but I could feel your mana organizing itself into… something. As well as something I didn’t even recognize.”

Rylan grinned at her.

“I call them Sword Arts. They’re like Mana Cultivation’s spells.”

Cecilia furrowed her brow. He could tell she was hesitating about whether to ask about his Aura, but he had no plans of answering. Krysta whistled.

“Just how ahead of us are you? And you even achieved so much at such a young age. It’s like you’ve been training for decades,” she said, making Elizabeth flinch. Rylan only grinned at her, not replying.

He then turned around and looked deeper into the Dungeon, narrowing his eyes. He stared into the hallway for several seconds, his perception at its sharpest. After a while, he came to a single conclusion.

“Something is wrong,” he said. “The next group of enemies is made up of fifteen of them, and I don’t think the one after them, deeper in, is any smaller. It’s a bit too far for me to sense them clearly, but I’m sure of it.”

“If this is like the Veria Woodlands, they’re following the Boss’ commands,” Gerard said in a heavy tone. “Do you think it already knows we’re here, like the Young Basilisk did?”

Rylan didn’t reply, his mind racing.

If I were the Boss, what would I do? Assuming it has already detected us.

Against several enemies above its level, and if it had control over the Dungeon’s monsters, there was only one alternative.

“They’re gathering,” Rylan said after a moment. “Or, at least, we should assume they are. I’m putting the training battles on hold. Let’s advance into the Dungeon and get rid of the Boss. There will be more opportunities.”

If he were alone, this wouldn’t have been necessary, but he wasn’t willing to risk the safety of his people any more than necessary. If the enemies were following the Boss’s commands to gather into larger groups, it was impossible to have more of the training battles in the first place. There was no way his siblings would be able to handle a group of fifteen foes, as not even Gerard could.

The three of them already had their separate fights and two battles while fighting together. It’ll have to be enough.

“Stick close to me,” he said. “Let’s keep going.”

Together, they continued to make their way into the Dungeon.

***

The Warden lifted itself from its throne. Its black armor shone only under the lighting of its lantern.

The enemy was coming. It was only a matter of time before he reached this room, even if the many waves of undead slowed him down.

Soon, the Warden would have to put its life on the line. But it wouldn’t die without struggling with everything it had.