Chapter 24 War
After making sure Julie was truly okay, I ran out of the office, down the stairs, and into the greeting area. Magret, Emily, and Jen had panicked looks on their faces as they paced around the area, unsure of what to do.
"Go hide!" I shouted.
They froze and looked at me with startled looks.
"Now!"
This got them moving, as they went upstairs and I passed them.
"Be careful," Magret yelled from above, but by then I was already outside.
First, I checked the front courtyard where the line of people would gather for food. It was empty. Good. This meant the people had fled, and I didn't need to worry about them. But this also meant that Tom's thugs wanted us.
I ran around the mansion, while preserving my mana. I didn't know how many enemies I would be greeted by, so I had to be as cautious as possible. As I turned around the corner, and the backyard came into my vision, I froze.
I could see the clashing of weapons, as two groups fiercely fought one another. I could see my conscripts swing their practice weapons and my guard defend themselves against Tom's thugs. Further back, Gerald was surrounded by three men, led by one extremely skinny and tall dagger-wielding man.
It didn't look good. Ben and Ren were the only ones who were uninjured. Even Gerald had blood pouring down his heavy plated armor.
We were on the losing side despite having evenly matched numbers.
After checking on everyone's strength, I stopped preserving my Mana and ran through the courtyard.
Gazes turned to me. Enemy and friend alike.
But it was clear who had more experience in battle.
While my people looked at me with hope, the attackers returned their attention back to the battle.
The only people who didn't pay me any mind were Gerald and his assailants.
"Stop looking at me, you idiots!" I yelled but it was already too late.
One of the thugs who was fighting my conscript stabbed his spear forward.
With the man's attention turned towards me, the tip of the weapon pierced his throat and was pulled back out.
Blood gushed out of his throat, with each passing second.
He clutched his throat. But it was already too late.
Another two were injured during the moment of misdirected attention and even Gerald was fiercely attacked.
Luckily, I reached the first group of attackers at that point.
They were fighting my conscripts. I arrived like a meteor.
My fist hit the first man straight across the jaw.
He hadn't expected my speed and strength and was flung across the yard.
I struck out two more times, hitting one man in the liver and the other in the spleen.
"Take care of them!" I yelled. With that, my conscripts would have the advantage. This time they didn't linger on my figure and instead retaliated with great ferocity.
Ren and Ben were just taking care of one of the assailants when one of my other guards' legs was struck by an axe.
He wailed in pain. I sped up, trying to save him.
It was too late. The guard fell to the ground, and the axe descended from above like an executioner's guillotine.
His head separated from his body cleanly.
The man with the axe laughed. But by then, I had already arrived. Fueled by rage, I pumped my fist full of mana and struck the man across the face. His head twisted to the side, and with a grueling crunch, his neck broke.
I hit him two more times, not realizing he was dead already.
"We got it, My Lord," Ben said to me. I could see tears threatening to escape his eyes, but his gaze left no room for negotiation. "Please help the Guard Captain. The man whom he is fighting is Tom's right-hand man."
"Where is Tom?" I asked.
"We don't know."
With that, I sped off again. I trusted both of them to make the accurate judgment.
They knew about the assailants better than me.
Fuck. What kind of Lord was I? We were attacked by people I had been informed about, yet I knew practically nothing useful for this fight.
I just knew they existed. And I didn't do shit about it.
Now, I was paying the dues for my arrogance. One of the conscripts was dead. One of my guards was beheaded—a man who had sworn loyalty to me.
And I couldn't help but blame myself for their deaths.
After all, I had chosen not to take care of the thugs first. My reasoning was not the problem. It's that I didn't even think about it further.
The thugs may have swung their weapons. But it was my overconfidence that took their lives.
I shook off these thoughts from my mind. I arrived next to Gerald. He looked much worse than before. His chest was heaving up and down. Blood pooled beneath him. He was hurt—bad.
"Are you okay?" Gerald said.
Am I okay? Are you fucking okay?! I thought, but didn't say anything. I simply nodded.
"Look who we have here! Is that not the new Lord of our little town? Oh, what a hero he is," the lanky man mocked me.
I grew cautious. It wasn't arrogance that made him say those things. He was trying to force me to make a mistake.
"He is Tom's right-hand man. He attacks fast via his daggers, and because of his build, it's almost like you are fighting a swordsman.
Be careful. It takes some time to get used to," Gerald said.
"The other two aren't dangerous on their own.
But they fight like rats. They use every gap that son of a bitch creates for them. Cockroaches they are."
I nodded.
I opened my mouth to speak and buy some time for Gerald, but it seemed that Tom's right-hand man was not an idiot. He burst forward, and the other two followed. Gerald took a diagonal step forward and lifted his blade. I let him guard me.
The right-hand man arrived fast. He and Gerald clashed weapons, and flashes of light erupted from them.
Skills were being used. I paid them just enough attention so the lanky man didn't suddenly ambush me.
I mostly focused on the two other assailants.
They truly fought like rats. They stayed just out of my reach.
Whenever I tried to help Gerald, they would strike me and engage, then retreat.
I could see their grinning faces light up in joy as they enjoyed playing this cat-and-mouse game. However, I didn't mind. I was just checking whether or not Gerald could deal with the tall, lanky man on his own.
He could.
Despite his obvious injuries, Gerald held a lifetime of experience that was hard to bridge. I knew that even I would have a lot of trouble fighting him without the element of surprise. So, an assassin, who relied on exactly that element of surprise, was going to have an even tougher time.
"Worried about your guard, milord?"
"Angry? Why don't you come and get us then?"
The two mocked me. I pretended to grow angry. They continued. The two of them weren't particularly strong. They were around mid-Stone Rank, maybe a little weaker than that. To be able to tell one's strength was an ability everyone had.
But there were also Skills that could counter that; for example, Ben's infiltration Skill did part of that.
I didn't think either of them had such a Skill.
Which meant they were dead meat to me.
"What's wrong—"
The Mana inside my legs exploded. I practically teleported in front of the first one. The surprised look in his eyes was a pleasure to see. I punched forward, and he hastily used his arms to form an X-shaped block.
Unfortunately for him, Mana Strike did not care about such a futile attempt. His arms shattered upon impact of my attack. The flesh ruptured, and the bone broke. I didn't pay him any mind as his arms flapped to the side, and I front-kicked him in the face, sending him hurtling.
Instead, I focused on his friend who was already upon me. His daggers cut me open, all over my body. I tried to block, but it was to no avail; it was a flurry of attacks my eyes couldn't track—a skill, I realized.
I took the Skill head-on, pumping more Mana through my body and making sure none of my vitals were hit. Then once his Skill was done, it was my turn. Snake Strike was so fast, even I had trouble spotting the attack. My fist appeared next to the man's jaw and dislocated it from the socket.
I didn't care that he was unconscious. Spleen, liver, then the heart were hit in quick succession as his limp body fell to the ground.
I turned back, ready to help Gerald with his fight against the lanky man, just to see what kind of difference there truly was between me and him.
His sword glowed with a blue light, the giant blade lengthening even further, and then he swung it.
It was like a blast of air was delivered around him.
His lengthened Mana blade touched the lanky man's leg as he tried to desperately dodge and...
cut through it like butter. A cry of pain echoed through the courtyard.
However, the fight was not over as I had expected.
The lanky man ignored his wound and hopped on one leg. He didn't flee. Instead, he went in. He fucking dashed towards Gerald. The thing I expected even less was for the man to not be surprised by it.
"You think you can do anything to me on your own? Who gave you the courage to stand in my way?" Gerald said, his eyes glowing with a golden light. At the same time, the lanky man's daggers glowed with a red light.
Both weapons met head-on. And with that, the lanky man was burst apart as Gerald's sword cut through his dagger, then his arm, and next his torso was split into two.
"Do not shame my name like that," Gerald said, looking at the corpse. "You should have known better."
"What the fuck are you?" I blurted out.
Gerald turned around and smiled.
"I am your sword and shield, my Lord," Gerald said, and bowed his head. Only now did I notice how many wounds covered his body. Small cuts filled his face. His exposed extremities were the same. Even worse was the blood that was still gushing beneath his armor.
"Are you–""I am fine," he said. "Let's help the rest."
The cleanup was quick, mostly because most of the assailants were already dead or fled the moment they saw us take care of their leader. I should have expected as much and instead of watching Gerald fight, gone and attacked the rest of the group.
But who could have known that the man didn't even need any help.
I looked around at the corpses. Most of them were from Tom's gang. However, in the end, one person of my guard was dead, in addition to three conscripts. I promised I would give them a proper funeral.
"Did you hit level 10?" I heard Ben ask.
"Nope, just level 9. But I am halfway towards level ten, you?" Ren said.
"Same for me. These must have been Tom's weaker men. They were what? Well into Wood Rank or barely into Stone Rank?" Ben said.
"Yeah, but he shouldn't have much more."
I checked my level.
Level: 10 [1%]
Are you kidding me? After all that fighting, I went up ONE PERCENTAGE POINT?
I scoffed and dismissed my screen.
The fight was done. The battle was won. But the war had just begun.
Tom was still out there.
And he had killed one of my guards and three conscripts.
This was unforgivable.
"Everybody!" I shouted. "Those who can fight, follow me! Those who are too injured will go and stay with Julie."
"March!"
Tom wanted war?
I was going to bring him war.