23 Her warm gaze
His grasp tightened around the hilt of his great sword as he let out a deep hum. Standing a couple of meters away at the forest's edge was a figure clad in black, their identity shrouded beneath a hood.
"A man or a woman?" Cristian pressed his right palm against the wall, squinting to discern a clearer picture.
"It's a man. More despicable compared to you," Sheila's entrancing voice murmured into his ears, eliciting a smirk from Cristian.
Sheila's eyes widened as Cristian shot her a sidelong glance, his current expression and appearance captivating her. "You identified me as one of his scouts. Where are they?" Cristian's words coincided with his action as he raised Burning Fury and thrust it downward. The blade pierced a wolf's mouth, slashing upward and causing the beast to tumble, colliding with others in its path.
"I don't know," Sheila replied, her blue brows furrowed as she surveyed the crowded field of wolves. "I assume you've taken a mana potion, so let's go eliminate him."
"Uh... what?" Sheila's raised eyebrows reflected her disbelief. 'Can't he see the field?' she pondered, her eyes shining with incredulity.
The field was teeming with massive wolves, and Cristian spoke of targeting their distant Lord.
"We should thin their numbers first," Sheila suggested, but Cristian shook his head. "We'll tire ourselves out, and more lives will be lost. If we take down their leader, the wolves will lose their cohesion and retreat. He's their rallying point. Plus, I feel too constrained in this space."
As a berserker, he yearned to unleash chaos, not engage like a foot soldier. "You're right, but let's—" Sheila paused, noticing his sudden disappearance. Despite her reservations, she couldn't help but admire his audacious and courageous approach.
A faint thud echoed as Cristian landed on a thick tree trunk, springing upward. His firm grip tightened around the lengthy hilt, infusing mana into it and enveloping the blade in swirling flames.
Slash! ~Bam!
His sword cleaved a wolf into two halves. A heavy impact reverberated through him upon landing, eliciting a groan. "Okay, maybe I pushed it a bit too far," he mused internally. The leap from a five-meter height had taken its toll. Fortunately, a warm sensation surged through his body, erasing the [-3] from his health gauge.
Cristian intended to check for Anna's arrival, but being the lone non-wolf in the open field, he drew the attention of dozens of predatory beasts.
"Move!" he commanded, darting towards the wolves ahead. Enthusiastically, the creatures lunged at him, but their numbers didn't tip the scales of battle in their favor. In just a few minutes, the count of dead wolves surpassed those still standing.
Though Cristian's technique lacked finesse, each swing of his sword inflicted critical wounds on the wolves, sending them into howls of agony.
From atop the wall, Sheila and Anna observed his relentless combat against the mindless beasts. Despite witnessing a substantial number of their kin fall, the remaining wolves continued their relentless assault. The fiery glow of his sword illuminated the scene, and the stench of seared flesh caused the onlookers to grimace.
Despite their volume, most of these wolves were below level 20, offering nothing substantial beyond experience points, much to Cristian's disappointment. Nonetheless, this only fueled his determination to vanquish the Dark Lord, whose demise could potentially yield valuable loot.
Suddenly, a wind wolf emerged from the horde, releasing a compressed air attack. Cristian narrowly evaded, receiving a minor cut on his cheek. The wolf snarled, charging at him with its bared fangs.
Meeting the oncoming wolf's gaze, Cristian surged towards it, leaving a trail of flames and smoke in Burning Fury's wake. The wolf raced with exceptional speed, while Cristian took deliberate, forceful strides. Holding back his full pace, he carefully calculated his next move—a technique he had grown to favor.
"Ah!" he roared, veins bulging, as he soared into the air, sword raised for a devastating downward strike. The wolf swiftly dodged aside, but Cristian wasn't finished. His eyes flashed, anticipating this maneuver. With a swift motion, he swung his sword like casting a net.
The creature was unable to react, and Cristian's blade cleaved off half of its head. An eruption of blood painted the lush grass and soaked into the earth. Emotions surged within him, the thrill of battle coursing through his veins, a sensation second only to the information flashing across his vision.
[You have defeated a level 26 wind wolf. Agility +2]
[You have reached level 14 and gained two free stat points...]
[You have reached level 15 and gained two free stat points...]
The EXP gained from defeating the wind wolf swiftly propelled his bar, hovering close to level 14, straight to level 15! "Only five more to reach twenty," he muttered to himself. Cristian understood that reaching higher levels became progressively more challenging.
With a moment to turn around, he took a glance and noticed the innocent priestess beaming at him. Her golden gaze emitted a soothing aura as she healed those nearby. Her mere presence uplifted the struggling soldiers.
While he was captivated by the refreshing and calming beauty of the priestess, a dark figure stealthily approached him. The figure moved with such stealth and grace that not even a whisper hinted at his presence.
Cristian's eyebrows rose when he saw both Sheila's and Anna's eyes widen. The blue-haired woman shouted, "Behind you!"
His eyes widened, but the assailant had already closed in. Cristian swiftly leaned to his right just as the man lunged with a dagger. Pain shot through him as the dagger made contact, yet it didn't penetrate any vital organ. If the attacker had any magical abilities, Cristian's fate would have been sealed.
Slowly turning to face his assailant, Cristian saw a man with long brown hair and a crooked nose. This scrawny man was undoubtedly the lecherous scout Sheila had identified earlier.
The shock registered on the man's face as the dagger he wielded was a one-time attack weapon granted by his Lord. It possessed the dreaded power of decay, capable of slowly consuming the victim's organs, inflicting excruciating pain leading to a slow death.
"How… how is this possible?" The man stuttered, his eyes wide and mouth agape. Cristian's eyes blazed with rage, gritting his teeth against the pain. His muscular arm shot out, fingers coiling around the man's neck.
"Who… who are you?" The man struggled to speak as Cristian slowly tightened his grip. The malevolent glare emanating from Cristian's eyes would have shocked Sheila and Anna. They had only seen him smiling warmly, never anticipating this dark side existing within the seemingly amiable warrior.
"I'm your executioner." His voice, deep and grating, pierced through the man's ears as Cristian plunged Burning Fury through the man's body. This time, he refrained from igniting the flames, wanting the man to feel the agony as he departed this world, and to conserve his remaining mana.
"Cristian! Are you alright?!" Her lilac-scented presence rushed to him, and she swiftly pushed his coat aside, gasping at the sight of the dagger's hilt and the rest of the blade lodged inside his body.
Cristian's eyebrows raised in astonishment at Sheila's display of emotions. "I got stabbed with a dagger, but I'm still standing, right?" His attempt at humor lightened the moment, though the blue-haired beauty would have playfully smacked him if he weren't injured.
"It hurts, but I'll manage," his deep voice assured her. He gently held her chin, lifting her head. Their eyes met, time seemingly freezing for a moment, but this serene interlude shattered when Anna arrived.
Soldiers wielding weapons alongside a handful of capable individuals poured out through the opened gates, engaging the wolves in a brutal battle. This diversion granted Cristian a brief respite, shielding him from further attacks.
"Allow me to handle this," Anna offered, to which he nodded in agreement. As Cristian turned to Sheila, he sighed, noticing a shift in her demeanor. The warmth he glimpsed earlier seemed to dissolve, returning her to a more distant state.
His eyes flickered with intent, and just as he prepared to address her, a sudden surge of scorching heat erupted from the distance.
"This can't be!" Anna exclaimed, prompting Cristian to swiftly turn towards the source of the unexpected heat..aimed, prompting Cristian to swiftly turn towards the source of the unexpected heat..
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