BXBX NOVEL Chapter 74 74 - The Strongest In The Duchy
Following Haruki\'s war cry a flood of his clones swarmed the stranger from every direction. With blades stabbing in his direction, the man stomped his feet on the ground and disappeared with a thunderous roar. Stumped by the sight, Haruki scanned the guild hall with his clones, but one after the other as they began disappearing from phantom attacks, he knew he wasn\'t gonna last long in this fight.
\'Where the hell is this guy?\' Despite his eyes feverishly surveying the place, he couldn\'t even catch a single glimpse of the man. The only proof of his presence was the sound of thunder going off every time a clone was being taken down.
"Illumination!" Discarding his plan to attack, Haruki tried to blind his opponent so he could Kane out and escape with the others, however, as soon as the spell began burning brightly none of his clones were left and thus, he was the only target left.
"Cheap tricks won\'t work on me," the man whispered right into his ears before bringing the hilt down on Haruki\'s head.
Seeping into his cranium, the pain from the focused strike assaulted his brain like a jolt of lighting and forced him to his knees before falling face-first onto the dusty floor.
\'W-who did he…figure out all the clones and leave me for last?\' With his eyes barely staying open and his mind drifting off, he heard Asuka\'s concerned cry as she dashed over to him in a rush.
"Get away!" She told the man standing beside Haruki.
Rolling his eyes, he drew in his saber before getting down on his knees to take a look at the injured mercenary. Watching as Asuka healed Haruki with healing touch, he let off a chuckle to mock the fallen warrior.
"Pathe-" Before another insult escaped his lips, he felt a heavy weight descending down onto his shoulder. "Aghh!"
Grunting to the pain shooting through his shoulder blades, the stranger was forced to the ground with his teeth gritted together. Wasting not even a second, he turned around to confront the assailant.
"What?! I thought…" Surprised to see Kane back on his feet carrying the great sword, no further words came out of his mouth.
"Surprised, are we?" Kane mocked, swinging the sword onto him once again.
This time not being distracted, however, the man on the ground disappeared with a rumble of thunder and even managed to shock Kane before escaping his blade. Feeling the electrocution down to his gums, Kane drew the sword back onto the shoulder.
"I\'ll heal you again!" Maya offered, rushing close to Kane.
"Is he still here?" Garth asked, holding his shield up in case Kane was attacked while Maya was healing him.
"Yes, I can smell him," not realizing she was in a human form, Asuka informed the group.
"He won\'t be here for long, rejuvenation!" Having recovered enough mana to use the skill, Haruki slowly made it back onto his feet. "Where the hell are the guards anyway?"
"As if they\'ll help, looking the other way is what they\'re being paid for these days," Kane\'s comment was a bit concerning but Haruki decided to ignore it for now.
"Where is he?" Picking up his sword, Haruki asked Rise.
"Turn around birdie," However instead of Asuka, the answer came from the man himself.
Whispering into his ears again, he appeared right behind Haruki and drew his sword back to stab him right through. In a moment of panic, Haruki\'s mind froze up and the sword in his hand slipped through his fingers.
"Fuck off!" Cursed Kane, trying to bash the man away.
But once again before his shoulders could pin him to the wall, the man disappeared and reappeared behind Kane.
"This mouse chase is tiring," he mumbled before piercing through Kane\'s armor with his saber.
Shaking from the stabbing pain, Kane\'s sword slipped through his hands as well, but unlike Haruki who had little experience fighting in this life, Kane powered through the hurt and clutched the saber\'s blade going through his body.
"Fortress!" Growling out the skill name, a sharp carved rock appeared out of his back and nearly punctured the man\'s body like a porcupine.
Leaving his saber in his belly, the stranger managed to get away in time. However, as he stood there looking at Kane\'s body covered in sharp blade-like rocks an amused smile crept up on him.
"I may have been wrong about you adventurer," chuckling to himself, he made the saber disappear from Kane\'s body and get back to the clutches of his fingers. "I\'ll leave you for now, but don\'t try to tell me what I can say and what I can\'t next time."
Disappearing again, the stranger\'s presence was now finally gone. Turning to Asuka to make sure of his time, Haruki received an immediate nod.
"Are you okay?" Maggie asked the two men who\'d been fighting.
"Rejuvenation!" Not waiting for any answer, Haruki made sure the stab wound on Kane was sealed off completely.
The very moment Kane\'s body reconstructed the flesh, he huffed out a sigh and turned towards this stranger helping him.
"Thank a lot, that hurt like a…" noticing Rise standing beside Haruki, Kane refrained from completing that sentence. "Anyway, thanks a lot, you were a fine fighter."
His compliment, while genuine, made Haruki feel weaker in comparison. Despite leveling up so much, he had a long way to go until he was even close to the level of the best adventurer in town.
"How the hell did you even survive so many blows? And forcing that guy to retreat with a saber through your stomach…" Lacking appropriate words to commend Kane, Haruki left wondering what to say.
"Ehhh…wouldn\'t be the first time I nearly died, right Maggie?" Turning to Maggie, Kane put on a smirk.
"Yup!" Maggie exclaimed, jumping happily on her feet.
"We were just about to tell miss Rise\'s boyfriend about our journey to Daria, but…" Looking around the place Garth pointed out the broken state of the place.
"Wait? Miss Rise has a boyfriend?!" Having met Rise while being recruited for the Daria journey, Kane pretended to be surprised to tease her a bit. "Well, who\'s surprised really, her man seems like a charmer ahaha."
Bumping his shoulder against Haruki he laughed out loud. Blushing at the comment Asuka covered her blushing face before punching Kane over the shoulders.
"Who the hell was that by the way?" Asked Haruki, trying to understand the situation a bit better. "And why was he attacking you?"
Slowly killing off his own laugh, Kane was just about to answer, but then from the room behind the counter screamed a loud voice.
"AHHHH! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO THE PLACE?!" Glaring at Kane, the female receptionist was burning up in anger. "YOU BETTER PAY FOR THE REPAIRS!"
\'Shouldn\'t the duchy pay for repairs?\' Haruki couldn\'t help but wonder whether the adventurer\'s guild was a private business or belonged to the kingdom.
"There goes another paycheck," Kane let out with a tired huff.
"I\'ll pay," Haruki offered.