Chapter 49

The mace-wielding Barbarian was clearly supposed to heal rapidly. He didn’t pay much attention to his physical well-being and even went as far as to reveal several openings for Hakon to strike. However, what he clearly failed to realize was the effect of [Bleeding].

Hakon, moving his weapons in perfect sync, used the openings before him and left several deep gashes behind. Those gashes tore wide open as soon as [Bleeding] triggered, slowing the Barbarian’s natural regeneration drastically. His eyes widened as he realized this, and his tactic changed, but he was nowhere near his peak physical condition by that time.

Maintaining [Split Focus] and his other perception-enhancing abilities, Hakon focused on melee. He evaded several strikes when his danger sense perked up and diverted others so they would hurt less once they found purchase. As painful as the blunt force was, Hoard Impact absorbed some of the impact, diminishing the actual damage enough to keep fighting.

Weaving around the Barbarian, [Circulation] and [Combat Awareness] active, Hakon’s weapons whirled around ferociously, yet with a sense of grace and rhythm that felt…different. New.

His weapons, imbued with mana, no longer felt like tools of destruction as he moved around his opponent, slashing and stabbing him at every opportunity. Instead, they started to feel like extensions of his body. Hakon’s range of attack seemed to grow considerably as he thrust his longsword into the Pearot’s abdomen, twisted the blade, and whirled around a descending mace, just to use the momentum to plunge his handaxe into the side.

[Bleeding] had been applied to every attack. However, as the fight continued, Hakon found himself adjusting the amount of mana infused into the blade, as well as altering the eruption of mana that followed when the blades applied with [Bleeding] came into contact with the target. Not every modification strengthened [Bleeding]’s effect, but the last two certainly did.

A bloody mess unfolded before Hakon, which only grew worse as his foe’s strength waned. In the meantime, he felt stronger and faster than before, the sword and axe dancing in his hands as he cut the Pearot Barbarian again and again.

Finally, after the mace crashed into Hakon’s side one last time, his blade finally tore through the throat and out of his neck. The life in the mace-wielder’s wide-open eyes faded. His legs caved in, and he collapsed to the ground, where he bled to death, spending his last heartbeats praying to the Ancestors. Or so Hakon thought as he stepped away, sacrificing his prey to the Ancestors.

The sound of battle echoed in his ears, pulling him back to the situation ahead. The death of Hakon’s foe reduced the Pearot’s numbers to a meager five, but that didn’t change anything. As far as he was concerned, it only meant that the others had a little less to worry about.

He let his gaze drift across the battlefield and frowned deeply. The vicinity was utterly chaotic. Roars of pain and anger mingled with the clash of metal and the sound of breaking bones. Blood seemed to fill the vicinity, coating the forest’s plant life, the ground, and the Barbarians thrashing one another.

And amidst it all was Björn, his abdomen ripped wide open, his chest dented inward. He was sprawled across a puddle of blood, maybe his own, possibly not, and he wasn’t moving. He was de–

He’s moving. Hakon realized the faintest movement as he pumped mana into his eyes. The details were unclear, but Björn was severely wounded and on the verge of death. But he was still alive. And as long as a Barbarian breathed, he was alive and could survive.

The warrior at the 2nd Ascension seemed to think the same. He appeared before Björn, towered over the Blessed warrior, and was about to ram his sword into Björn’s heart when a crimson flash whipped the blade to the side.

Astrid arrived at the scene, covered in severe wounds, looking worse for wear even though Blood Fury ought to enhance her greatly on a battlefield drenched in blood. She forced her opponent away from Björn but paid dearly for protecting her friend.

A sudden headbutt forced her to her knees. Hatred burned in her eyes as she stared up at her opponent, daggers clenched tightly, yet she couldn’t move quite right. The crimson hue surrounding her was consumed in favor of her speed, but the Pearot Barbarian smashed the sword pommel against her temple before she could scramble to her feet.

She collapsed, all while the 2nd Ascension Barbarian towered above her with a self-satisfied smile.

Seeing all that made Hakon’s blood boil. The sight was infuriating, and the other unmoving bodies around the battlefield only amplified those feelings.

Pumping mana into his lower body, he crossed the distance to the strongest in a moment. He used [Bash] and crashed into him before following up with a fully empowered [Discharge]. The Barbarian let out a pained roar, confusing Hakon momentarily. Even if [Bash] hadn’t been strong enough to stun anyone at the 2nd Ascension for long, [Discharge] certainly should have been. Especially when the target wasn’t doing all that well either.

The warrior’s chest, arm, and back were covered in a handful of bad-looking wounds. Blood flowed from the wounds in streams, telling Hakon all he needed to know. Astrid had successfully struck him a few times with [River of Blood].

But no matter how bad he looked, a Barbarian at the 2nd Ascension was still at the 2nd Ascension.

Hakon pushed on nonetheless, trying to find an opening he could exploit, but his foe recovered in a moment. His blade whipped upward, blocking Hakon’s sword. Tilting the blade after they collided, the warrior managed to divert the descending handaxe as well.

I’m too slow. He thought as his foe pushed him back just to execute an attack too swift for him to respond.

A red line appeared across his chest, followed by a second, and a third. Neither of the wounds were severe, but they accumulated as time went on. [Evasion] and [Combat Awareness] had helped him tremendously against the Barbarians at the peak of the 1st Ascension, yet now he had to maintain [Circulation], [Flow Observation], and [Sensory Expansion] as well just to predict where the next strike was going to land.

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He still failed to evade the attacks and only managed to avoid the worst, turning lethal strikes into minor injuries.

I need to move faster!

The thought reverberated in his head as he pushed on, his weapons flashing before him to intercept the descending sword. He failed the first few times, but as time went on, he analyzed the next strike early enough to block it properly. By then, his body was riddled with wounds, yet the corner of his lips curled into a vibrant smile.

Faster! He roared at himself. Moments later, the world around him seemed to turn into a blur. All that remained were his opponent and his weapons.

He moved faster than ever, his movements sharper, his strikes smoother than before. But that was only the beginning.