Blood had gathered on the ground. Mud and dirt were mixed with pieces of flesh and armor, and the smell of iron made the air heavy.
Reinh breathed slowly. His chest moved up and down, but his face did not change at all.
In front of him, the last remaining barbarian was standing.
He was taller than the others. Broad shoulders, muscles like twisted ropes under his skin, and a helmet made from the skull of a giant lion. The open jaw of the skull cast a wild shadow over his face.
He looked at the bodies around him. His hands were shaking. His breath became heavy.
And then he growled like a wild animal.
"Bastard! You killed all of them! You killed my brothers!"
Mana burst out of his body like a wave.
"I will tear you apart!"
Reinh tightened his grip on the blood-covered mercenary sword. The blade was chipped, and his own hand was covered in blood. A deep cut on his arm was still open and blood was slowly dripping down.
His opponent was a Four-Ring mana user. There was a real difference in power. But thankfully, he could use the environment and the enemy's mental state to his advantage.
The barbarian disappeared with a leap.
Reinh had only a fraction of a second; he lifted his sword, but the strike came down like a mountain. The bones in his arms screamed, and his body was thrown several meters back.
The pain was sharp and real, but Reinh did not even groan.
The barbarian attacked again with bloodlust. His fists fell like hammers. Each strike carried mana, and they were strong enough to crush even an elephant.
Reinh moved backward.
He slipped his sword between the blows with difficulty, dodged, fell, and stood up again. One strike passed by his side and tore the flesh. Blood sprayed out.
But Reinh only took the next step.
The barbarian frowned. Why would this boy not fall?
"Die!"
He roared and charged with full power. Reinh purposely made a mistake.
His feet slipped. His balance broke.
The barbarian smiled and raised his mana-filled fist to finish the fight.
At that moment, Reinh jumped forward.
He let go of his broken sword and rammed his shoulder into the barbarian's chest. The distance disappeared. The fight became close-range.
The barbarian was caught off guard. Reinh punched his throat with his bloodied fist.
The barbarian's roar broke and he staggered back. Reinh bent down, kicked up dirt, and threw it into the barbarian's face with a quick movement.
"Damn it—!"
The barbarian's eyes went blind for a moment.
"Bastard! Fight like a real man! Only weaklings use tricks like this!"
Reinh did not answer and used that moment. He picked up the sword from the ground and instead of a killing blow, he purposely slashed the barbarian's thigh.
The barbarian attacked like a madman. His strikes became messy. Stronger but without thinking, just like a wild animal.
Reinh was hit many times. One punch broke his ribs. Another blow tore the skin on his back.
But he only kept stepping backward, leading the barbarian.
Until the ground became more muddy. Until the bodies underfoot made the surface slippery.
The barbarian leaped, and his foot slipped on the blood. His balance broke for a moment, and that was enough.
Reinh swung the sword with everything he had, from under the lion-skull jaw upward. The blade went through the lion skull, but his goal was not to kill the barbarian, it was to strike strong enough to crack the skull.
The barbarian fell to his knees. His helmet dropped off his head and blood flowed from his body.
Reinh dropped the sword and grabbed the barbarian's head, looking at him with cold eyes.
"Where is Garush?"
"Heh… Vorhelm scum, you think we sell our own brothers?" the barbarian said with mockery, and then he spat on Reinh's face.
Reinh's expression did not change, although he lifted his other hand and pushed two of his fingers straight and hard into one of the barbarian's eyes.
"Arghhh—! Ghhh—!" the barbarian's scream echoed.
Reinh pulled the entire eyeball out of its socket with his two fingers while blood burst out.
"Where is Garush?" he repeated his question again, this time with an even colder tone.
This time the barbarian did not answer immediately. He was still crying from the pain. But when he felt Reinh's hand moving toward his remaining eye, he opened his mouth.
"He is at home! He is at home!"
"So he hasn't come out yet," Reinh muttered to himself, and then crushed the barbarian's skull on the spot, killing him instantly. He let the body fall and stood up.
Garush was the barbarian responsible for torturing and killing Reinh's only real friend. In his past life, he never had the chance for revenge.
But in this life, he could tear that bastard apart… or maybe use him in a better way.
Reinh's eyes shined with a demonic light, but when he felt two auras approaching from afar, his eyes returned to their empty, calm state.