We retreat back to the village, but we were stopped by the elite knights. We decided to split up, hoping to divide their forces. But most of the knights were following me.
‘As expected. They’re pissed about me killing the commander, huh,’ I thought as I ran through the forest, branches whipping past me.
I skid to a stop as another group of knights appeared in front of the path, stepping out from behind the trees with weapons at the ready.
“Stop right there! We got you surrounded!”
“Just quietly surrender,” they declared, voices cold and confident.
But I had no reason to surrender.
I lunged at the knights in front of me, mana surging through my body. I condensed it into my fist until it felt like my arm was encased in steel. With a sharp inhale, I stepped with my left leg, twisted my back to add momentum, and threw a punch packed with destructive force.
A knight with a large shield stepped forward, planting his feet and raising his shield just in time to intercept the blow.
Clang!
The impact rang through the trees like a bell. The shield vibrated and the knight staggered back a step from the force. With that opening, I slammed my hand to the ground and manipulated the earth. Jagged stone spikes burst upward, aiming for their legs and midsections—but the knights reacted fast, leaping up into the trees with impressive agility, avoiding the impalement.
Without wasting a second, I conjured a swirling tornado in the center of the clearing, whipping up dust, leaves, and debris. The fierce winds howled, forcing them to keep their distance. From inside the swirling vortex, I unleashed blades of wind, sharp and near-invisible, slicing outward with deadly intent.
“Traidon, pierce it!”
A voice cut through the chaos, and a glowing spear flew straight through the heart of the tornado, disrupting its flow. I was forced to halt my assault. The spear lit up, its runes glowing bright, and then—someone stepped through the raging wind, undeterred.
It was a knight clad in silver and golden-plated armor, regal and menacing. He pulled the embedded spear from the ground with a sharp motion, then lunged at me, his body low and fast. A flurry of precise thrusts followed, like a storm of fangs.
I raised a barrier, channeling mana with urgency—but the spear pierced right through it.
Like there was no barrier in the first place.
The tip of the spear aimed directly at my chest. I twisted my body, narrowly avoiding the blow, and grabbed the pole with both hands. With a yank, I pulled the knight toward me and launched a mana-enhanced right kick straight to his helmeted head.
Crack!
A small dent formed in his helm, and his body went flying, crashing into the earth with a grunt.
Using that brief opening, I conjured and launched water spears and lightning arrows in quick succession. The combined elemental strike hit him before he could recover, stunning his movements.
But before I could finish him off, the other knights had already broken through the dissipating tornado. They lunged at me from all sides, giving me no time to strike back—only enough to dodge and block.
Arrows whistled through the air from behind as other knights engaged me directly. I twisted away from a volley, the tips barely missing. A sword and a hammer came crashing down on my barrier—
Boom!
It cracked from the double impact.
I jumped back, breathing heavily, but they stayed on me, unrelenting. I threw a straight punch, aiming at one of them—but it was blocked by a shield, nullifying the blow completely.
“Well, it's my turn now.”
I conjured a new barrier—not to defend, but to trap the knights within its edge. I moved outside the remnants of the tornado, reinforcing the spell with ice magic. The tornado, now infused with cold, began to compress, shrinking inward slowly.
The winds turned brutal, spinning at blinding speeds. Inside, the temperature dropped sharply—ice formed instantly, freezing limbs and slowing reactions. The violent spin crushed and twisted bodies, bones broke with sickening snaps, and blood sprayed as jagged debris tore through armor.
But despite the carnage, some of the knights managed to escape, forcing their way out as the tornado disappeared—compressed to the point of collapse.
I didn’t give them a chance to regroup. I continued my assault, launching elemental attacks in rapid succession—flames, water, lightning—everything I had left. I reshaped the ground beneath them, catching them in shifting earth traps. The terrain collapsed, burying them inside a crater.
I followed up with a fire spell, detonating it inside.
Boom!
The explosion shook the air.
“Haah…” I breathed out, chest heaving. I was tired—drained from using most of my current mana to conjure those spells. My limbs felt heavy, my breath ragged.
After the intense battle, I scanned the area. Smoke and dust hung in the air. I searched for any signs of movement, any surviving knight trying to crawl out of the hole.
Nothing.
To make sure, I sent another wave of fire into the crater, then sealed the opening with solid earth.
With that, I turned and ran toward the village to regroup and continue the plan.
But then the giant entity began to move.
As I was retreating, the ground shook with every thunderous step the giant entity took. Trees trembled, birds scattered, and the very air seemed to vibrate. Then—it looked straight at me. Without warning, it swung its massive fist in my direction. I barely dodged, the wind of its strike brushing past my face like a hammer swung through the air.
I retaliated immediately, launching a stream of fire directly at its towering body. But the flames washed over its darkened, molten-plated chest—and it merely shrugged them off as if they were sparks from a candle.
‘If I retreat… this thing will follow me back to the village.’
With no other choice, I gritted my teeth and began gathering the few scraps of mana left in my core. My limbs ached, my breath was ragged, but I stood firm. I had to fight.
The giant entity roared, then unleashed a brutal barrage of punches. Each swing tore through the air with enough force to bend trees. I used my magic to launch myself upward and sideways, narrowly keeping out of range—but I hadn't expected it to vanish mid-motion.
My eyes widened.
It reappeared in front of me instantly—like it bent space—and threw a wide hook aimed straight at my body.
I conjured a burst of wind beneath me, blasting my body sideways just in time. The attack narrowly missed, but the pressure still stung my skin. I didn't hesitate—I launched myself forward, aiming to land a blow against its stomach.
But the entity read my move. It stepped back with inhuman grace for its size, then executed a brutal uppercut that caught me clean.
Pain exploded through my ribs.
The next thing I knew, I was airborne—sent flying high into the sky.
"Shit… this is not good," I muttered, blood trickling down my lip as my vision slowly blurred.