"That was rather easy, wasn't that?" I mutter to myself.
The way Velucan told me about how dangerous Paladins were made me believe that they indeed had a power I should be wary of. Because of this reason, I was extremely wary of the female Paladin I just killed.
Although there is a possibility that Velucan was just trying to mess with me when he told me about it, there is also a possibility that I just met a weak Paladin, which is why I could kill her easily.
With that said, instead of getting cocky now that I have killed one of the Paladins, I became more wary of them. There is no way they are not enraged after knowing I have killed one of their friends, so I am sure more of them will come at me.
"Oh, by the way, nice assist, Luxia."
"I can do much more though."
"Can you make a Golem?"
"..."
I think I have accidentally offended Luxia—given the silence—so I immediately cease the conversation, and cut every human soldiers coming at me. Killing them is extremely easy, but I admire their tenacity.
I expected the soldiers to master some Battle Spells that are flashy enough to slightly surprise me—that is how it normally goes in any fantasy work—but this work is a little too realistic, which means too unfair, in my opinion.
Unlike the Heroes and people with connections, all of them are merely using a basic Spell that is pretty straightforward and primitive, which in other words, suck enough to get them easily killed.
I may think this way because I have grown stronger, but the fact that the fight isn't as difficult as I expected is something to be relieved at and disappointed at. I am already addicted to the power-ups Pride gives me at this point, thus my eagerness to fight.
Boom!
"Well, he packed some power..."
I look at the soldier whose punch Rexorem has just blocked, and can't help smirking slightly at his outfit. I wear minimum armour, but this guy looks like he is going to London Fashion Week.
He doesn't wear a single armour, and is barely covered with clothes. I would accept it if he had dressed himself like Bruce Lee—it fits the way he fights—but he dresses himself like someone who cares more about vacation than his life.
"I can't tell if you are an idiot or just overly confident in your puny power."
"Well, it's fashion, you know?" The man says with a smirk. "If I die, at least, I wanna die with style."
Snorting faintly as I stab Rexorem into the ground, I reply, "Your post-mortem photographer will dress you better than you do when you are alive."
The guy's smirk widens before he immediately charges at me. I assume my stance, which is unique to the Hand-to-hand Combat Technique that I created myself, and block the man's fist that packs more power than before.
Boom!
We are not trading blows yet, but his fist's clash with my palm has already produced a shockwave that is enough to sway the grass surrounding me. He throws a couple of more punches in succession, and, of course, I managed to block them all.
"You have a pretty formidable Combat Technique," the man remarks.
"Nah, I think yours is just shit."
"Kukuku. We would be a very good friend if you were a human—I am sure of it."
Huffing lightly at the man, I take the initiative to attack this time. Channeling Mana to my fist, I activate my Skill: [Death Blow].
The man doesn't know what he is up to, so he innocently decided to block my punch. It is only when my fist is about to make a contact with his hand does he realize that a nightmare awaits him if he chooses to block my fist.
Boom!
Regardless of his realization however, he only has one choice, which is to block my punch, due to the remaining distance that makes it impossible for him to run away.
He is smart enough to cover himself with a Magic Barrier though; he is thrown away by the blast, but he got away with just a couple of bruises. That still disoriented him enough to leave a gap in his defense regardless.
"You see why I told you your Combat Technique sucked?" I say the moment I arrive in front of the man with my fist swung at him.
The man only smiles bitterly, accepting the fact that he will never be able to block my punch. I am using [Death Blow] currently, so he is right in thinking that way.
Boom!
What happens afterwards, however, is something that I never expected. A thin spherical Barrier, which I can't tell what it is made of, suddenly materializes and protects the man.
In the next moment, I can see a cross shaped sword pendant dangling from his wrist. That explains why I can't feel the Energy he used to make the Barrier: he is a Paladin, thus he uses Holy Energy.
"An unconventional Paladin, aren't you?"
"No one obligates us to dress like an armour freak." The man smirks, then darts away after kicking the ground.
I summon Rexorem that I have stabbed into the ground, and it immediately comes flying at me. Rexorem himself told me that I could actually make the sword instantly materialize in my hand after letting it go, but I am not there yet.
When Rexorem comfortably sits in my hand, I dash toward the nearby soldiers that my eyes can see instead of the eccentric man. It is pointless chasing after a single opponent in a battle, which the goal is killing as many as possible.
Clank!
Boom!
"Hey, why didn't you chase after me?"
Much to my annoyance, the man decided to bother me after running away from me. He deflected Rexorem before it managed to cut the unlucky soldier in front of me, making it hit the ground instead.
"You can take some of my money, and I'll chase after you."
"Heh... I can do—"
Phweet!
The man's eyes widen the moment he sees Rexorem swung upwards in a flash. My Skill: [Whistle of Death] allows me to severe his arm and cut open his chest even before he managed to erect a Barrier.
"Kuhak!" The man keels over. "I...mposs...ible!"
"There is your wish. You wanted to die in style badly, didn't you?"
Swinging Rexorem down, I decapitate the man in one swift motion. Quickly turning around, I find fifteen human soldiers coming at me with a fierce aura.
I ask Luxia to do something about them, and she immediately splits the ground in front of them open. They fall into the crack that is deep enough to bury them up to their chest, and get trapped inside it after Luxia narrows the crack.
I arc Rexorem widely and send the Mana Sword it generated by using my Mana to the fifteen trapped people. They are decapitated swiftly, and blood spurts out of their headless body in the next moment.
"This is my first rain of blood," I muse before realizing something. "Oh, right, I need to use this chance to temper Rexorem."
Sending my will to take all of the blood in the battlefield, Rexorem's blade immediately shines in red. Nothing happens for a couple of seconds, but blood comes flying at it from all directions afterwards.
Everyone's eyes turn to me at the obviously eye-catching scene, and I can't help cursing inwardly. I wish I had intended to merely absorb the blood of the fifteen soldiers planted in the ground to not attract much attention.
"Rexorem, don't absorb too much of blood! You are attracting everyone's's attention!"
[There is nothing too much in my dictionary, Master.]
"What are you trying to do? Advancing to the Violet Rank?!"
[You have to, at least, let me absorb the blood of a Deming King for me to do that.]
"..."
Sighing lightly, I eventually let Rexorem do what he is doing. It is still beneficial for me by the end of the day, so I think of a plausible explanation about what my sword can do instead.
Telling them what Rexorem can do as is will be dangerous, because some of them may recognize it is Rexorem, which was previously held by a fallen Demon King Candidate. It will make them question my identity.
I still don't have the necessary power to fight the other Demon King Candidates, so I don't want that to happen. Once they caught a whiff of my suspicious identity, they will definitely come at me and that will be the end of me.
Boom!
"Damn it! You are heavier than the first time I picked you up now, Rexorem!" I mutter as I plant Rexorem into the ground. "I need you to stop absorbing people's blood ... At least, wait until I have enough power to not feel your weight."
[Yes, Master.]
By the time I know it, more than half an hour has passed. Rexorem has almost sucked a half of the corpse's blood dry, and I slightly struggle to merely lift it, let alone swing it.
Luckily, the battle has been concluded, so there is no more need for me to swing it. Looking around the battlefield, I can still spot a river of blood even though Rexorem has absorbed quite a lot of it.
Corpses litter the ground; all of them are in an unrecognizable state. Humming to myself, I muse if this is what it would have looked like if we decided to kill all of the Dukedom's citizens instead of enslaving them.
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