Bang…
A massive dragon landed beside Baines's warhorse, and a figure descended from it.
"What's wrong?" Tasha asked as she approached Baines, noticing the frown etched on his face.
She had been dispatched as the leader of Darkon's forces, while her father remained with the main attack force, and she had been among the people watching his actions. She still couldn't wrap her head around this person. She thought he was struggling against a barbarian, just for him to cut it like butter. Then there was his massacre afterwards.
"This isn't all," Baines muttered, quickly calling over five of his subordinates.
"What do you mean?" Her brows furrowed deeper in confusion.
"They're ambushing from the right mountain," he replied.
"But the main attack force isn't stationed there!" Her eyes widened in alarm.
Baines turned to his subordinates and ordered, "Run at full speed. Tell them to take mountain formation." The five bowed and dashed off.
"Wait—how do you know?" she asked, suspicion creeping into her voice.
"I understand them," Baines said simply and then fell silent, diving into his thoughts and leaving Tasha stunned.
'I need to inform the commander, but I can't distract him. So, should I start with the legion commanders,' he decided and dismounted, using his military-issued sword to tether his horse to the ground, and approached the battlefield.
"What are you doing?" Tasha asked, watching Baines move toward a fight far beyond his level. But he didn't respond.
—Commanders, on my signal, retreat for a moment, then strike immediately.
The legion commanders reacted sharply, but they couldn't afford to lose focus mid-battle. Still, within seconds, they nodded in silent agreement.
Realizing he was preparing for something major, Tasha fell quiet and watched.
"Phew…" Baines inhaled deeply, placing his hand over the hilt of the bladeless sword, his father's greatest collection.
The commanders surged forward, giving the illusion of a full attack. In truth, they were preparing to scatter.
Then Baines took a single step.
—Now.
In an instant, his body tore through space, appearing in the middle of the fight. As his sword left its sheath, it split into many streams like the branches of a tree.
"Torrential Bind."
The five 6th-star outliers jolted in surprise. Their prey had suddenly retreated, only for another threat to appear before them.
As the aura branches chased them down, they instinctively attempted to escape. But before they could react—
Whoosh…
The three legion commanders appeared behind them, unleashing their full power.
BOOOOMMM…
"Gahhhhhh!"
Three outliers suffered severe injuries, while the remaining two were attacked by the bind, and the commanders wasted no time, diving in for the kill against their injured enemies.
"Raaaargh!" the barbarian roared, ripping through the bind with brute strength. The nomand also broke free a second later.
But the bind had done its job. It returned to Baines.
Click.
He sheathed the sword, then drew it again.
"Torrential Slash: Cleave."
His aura drained rapidly as he activated another supreme technique, but the power was worth it. The sword released a brilliant moonlight arc that tore through the air.
BOOOOOOOOOM…
A straight line on the ground was mercilessly cleaved in two, and unfortunately for the nomand, it was directly in the path.
Absolute cut and destruction, this was the best technique he had in terms of sword attacks. It used the will to cut to decimate its enemies, and 'cleave' was the first of its techniques.
It was as simple as cleaving whatever was before it. Then, torrential slash was the form of the sword he chose. The sword released a concentrated moonlight arc of aura to the distance.
Complete annihilation. The nomand, along with the earth beneath him, was split clean in half.
"Cough … Haa…" Baines coughed up parts of his internal organs, while exhaling heavily, staring at the destruction.
[COMMENCING TREATMENT]
From where he stood to the nomand's last location, the icy ground had been carved open.
"What…"
"This…"
"…"
The legion commanders were frozen in disbelief. A 5th star had just one-shot a 6th star. It was impossible not to be surprised. They had quickly dealt with their enemies to assist the person who gave them the chance, not knowing he could hold them.
"Please... assist the Grand Commander. There's no time," Baines said, cleaning blood from his mouth, coating his sword with aura, and charging toward the dazed barbarian.
Still shocked, Tasha snapped out of it at his words. "Commanders! Move—we don't have time!"
...
Bang!
A thunderous boom echoed from the Grand Commander's battle. Fighting two 7th stars was no easy feat. Tricks didn't work at this level—only raw power and will. The Grand Commander was bleeding, clearly struggling.
But the outliers weren't unscathed either. The nomand had lost three arms and seethed with fury. The barbarian bore multiple injuries.
"Grand commander." The three legion commanders immediately joined the fray.
…
There was a reason Baines didn't use 'Cleave' on the barbarian despite it being the stronger of the two. He needed the body intact, specifically the tattoo area, for Eye to scan it.
At the moment, his body ached after causing internal injuries to himself.
He took another step, appearing right in front of the barbarian and striking at its head.
Bang!
The barbarian reacted quickly, managing to block, but it was knocked back.
"Raaarrr!"
'Eye, how is my physical ability up to 6th star level now?' he asked mentally as they exchanged a flurry of explosive blows.
[ASHENFALL 5TH STAR CAUSED AN INCREASE IN PHYSICAL ABILITY]
'Is it so I can wield the energy fully?'
[CORRECT]
He nodded at the confirmation. That was all he needed to know.
With new knowledge, he pressed forward, clashing violently with the barbarian.
…
Meanwhile, in a distant command tent—
"Commander, five vanguard riders are approaching the gate at full speed!" a soldier reported to a white-haired military man. He was the Grand Commander of the Sunblade Legion.
"Let them in. Let's hear what they have to say," the commander replied.
Soon, the five stood before him, and beside him were the Radiant Archer Grand Commander and the head of the Darkon family. Their expressions turned grim, sensing bad news.
"Speak."
"I'm from Battalion Commander Jin. He believes a larger enemy force is gathering at the right mountain and requests immediate mountain formation."
"What?!"
"Huh?"
"Hmm?"
"…"
Their reactions were immediate and intense.
First off, the outliers had never climbed the mountains, though they made their base between two mountains. In case of such a situation, but it never happened. Second, they had seen the report on the numbers attacking the vanguard, and they were ready to assist at any time. But this?
"But how did Battalion Commander Jin know?" the Radiant Archer Grand Commander asked.
"He said… he understood their language."
The three leaders exchanged weird glances and concluded on the same thing.
There were only two possibilities:
Jin was telling the truth—and they needed to act.
Or…
Jin was a traitor trying to sabotage their defenses.