Chapter 168: With Ancestor (14)
Let's admit what needs admitting. All victories begin by admitting failure. Honestly, I was greatly overconfident in my own skill. I thought that no matter how strong the hero was, I could take her down with my buffs and sheer tenacity.
But that was a miscalculation. The hero had endured as many hardships as the lines of fire I had crossed, and had roamed the world on adventures I had never experienced. From a young age, she devoted herself to spiritual discipline, always steeling her heart and training herself. The hero's experience was of a different quality than mine. I could feel her experience from the sharp tip of her blade.
The hero was overwhelmingly strong. Stat buffs and abundant practical experience. The proficiency from wielding a sword since childhood and eyes filled with sincerity. The hero, equipped with all these perfect elements, could be called the strongest right now. I sank into thought on my knees.
"How about it? Are you going to surrender now?"
In fact, the one whose willpower was being chipped away was AA. Every time she cut me, she suffered as if she were the one being cut. She was someone who could do anything for her comrades, yet she was also a soft-hearted person who would rather die than cut down a comrade.
Her once-steady blade tip was now trembling slightly.
"No."
My side burned. Right after I was first hit by her fist, AA stabbed me in the side to pry me off her. When I screamed, AA herself was startled and pulled the sword out with a wide twist, and I collapsed to the floor, my upper and lower body half-separated.
I fiddled with the area around my neck. It was a wound I received after landing the first successful blow on AA. AA's face was shattered by my mace, but my head was sent flying. The sensation of my neck feeling empty as my vision soared high into the sky still hadn't faded.