I reversed my grip on the dagger and slammed it against Morouen's short sword. When the strike failed to break through his guard, I immediately drove a kick toward his groin. Morouen reacted quickly and leaped backward, narrowly avoiding the attack. His short sword flashed upward toward my neck. I raised my dagger just in time, blocking the strike, and the two of us fell into a rapid exchange of blows.
I had to admit that Morouen's fighting technique was impressive. Still, back when I lived on Earth, I relied on the Demon Hunter's almost monstrous learning ability and superior physical conditioning to master more than sixty different fighting styles. When it came to pure combat technique, I completely outclassed the man standing in front of me.
Even though my current physical strength was inferior to Morouen's, my refined skills allowed me to keep him suppressed. My true target, however, was not him.
It was Skog.
He stood nearby, gripping a short blade and waiting for the perfect moment to slip in and deliver a fatal strike.
I shifted my dagger back to a standard grip and executed the move Sweeping the Eight Directions, forcing Morouen several steps backward. With my left hand, I pulled two lightning talisman cards from my belt and hurled them toward him.
Morouen rolled across the ground in a desperate dodge.
Boom. Boom.
Two bolts of lightning slammed into the earth, leaving scorched craters where he had stood. Taking advantage of the opening, I slipped back into the dense jungle and vanished among the trees.
Hidden in the foliage, I held the advantage. They were exposed while I remained unseen. From their earlier conversation and my own judgment of the situation, I knew they could not afford to waste time. The moment impatience forced them into a mistake would be the moment I struck again and ended both of them.
I crouched behind a cluster of bushes and carefully watched their reactions.
"Did he leave?" Skog asked nervously.
"No," Morouen replied, pressing his left hand against the wound on his abdomen, the one I had carved open earlier. His brows tightened in frustration. "He's hiding somewhere in the dark, waiting for us to expose a weakness so he can kill us in a single strike. Speaking of which, what kind of faction are you chasing after? Is it really worth risking this much?"
Skog's eyes gleamed with strange excitement. "They are extraordinary. They know the truth of the world."
"Who?"
"The Redeemers."
Morouen clenched his fist. "Bastard. If you keep feeding me nonsense like that, I'll punch your teeth out and give you the most painful redemption imaginable."
Skog sighed and shrugged. "Fine. They are the humans outside the walls."
My eyes widened slightly and my breath caught.
At that exact moment, Skog suddenly hurled the short blade in his hand directly toward my hiding place, while Morouen lunged forward in a savage charge.
I had fallen into their trap.
Then my mentor's voice echoed in my mind.
The talisman cards a Demon Hunter creates will never harm their maker.
Without hesitation, I twisted my body sideways and avoided Skog's flying blade. At the same instant, before Morouen's short sword could pierce my heart, I activated every explosive and lightning talisman card on my body.
A violent storm of explosions and lightning erupted around me within a three meter radius, blasting outward for more than ten meters.
Three massive trees snapped in half from the shockwave.
Skog was hurled through the air and slammed against a tree trunk, coughing up blood as he collapsed to the ground.
Morouen was far less fortunate.
His body was torn apart by the blast, pieces scattered across the clearing. The farthest fragment landed nearly seven meters away.
I dropped to one knee and looked down at the short sword embedded one third of the way into my chest. Morouen's final strike had still managed to land.
"Ugh..."
Gripping the hilt, I pulled the blade free. Blood immediately poured from the wound, but I pressed a healing talisman card against it and forced the bleeding to slow.
Slowly, I rose to my feet.
Fortunately, my clothing carried minor enchantments, which kept it from being shredded by the blast.
With steady steps, I walked toward Skog, who lay gravely injured on the ground.
Now it was his turn.
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Powerstones?? (´ε｀ )
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