It was a hellish battle, but it wasn't his first. Three days prior, his father had given him a note directly from his liege. It retained information regarding the location and timing of General Braggart's next excursion. He already knew the situation that the kingdom was currently in and set out with full confidence.
'So what is this?'
A young woman was able to cut through his men like it was nothing. The swordsmanship she used carved holes in his squad's formation. She squandered the title of Ushain soldier.
She wasn't on the list of targets to watch out for. Was she some type of secret soldier sent out to protect Braggart? It was hard to tell. She ultimately fought for herself in the battle and protected the carriage alone. So her end goal might differ from the Cosal soldier's purpose.
"Hey big guy! Why don't you get off that horse of yours and we can fight this out like men!" The young woman was yelling at him to get off his horse.
"But you are a woman, aren't you...?"
"The details don't matter okay! I just want to cross swords on an even ground okay?"
The knight grinned at her response. "I'm quite a fan of your honesty. I'll listen to that request of yours and fight you on even ground. But I have one thing I must ask in return."
"What?"
"Tell me thy name"
"It's Luna, what about yours?"
"I am Archer Northwind"
"Archer? You sure don't look like one to me."
"That much is true..." The knight dismounted his horse and drew his sword. It was completely different from a simple soldier's sword. An aura surrounded it with a dry cold air. There was definitely something that he had up his sleeve.
With his left hand the knight reached for his belt. A long whip with thorns unraveled as Archer got into a stance.
Luna's plan was to run around the area and use the soldiers as temporary cover for her to heal and recover mana. But she knew that wouldn't work for long and needed something else in order for her to win the duel.
Luna spoke in a softened voice. "Noll, do you have any ideas on how we're supposed to fight this guy?"
Luna just had to hope she could do enough damage before the knight catches on.
The first strike mattered greatly to Luna. If she didn't deal the first strike she could possibly die or lose all of her health from the start of the battle. The only thing she could do was equip armor from the fallen soldiers and hope it would protect her.
Looking through her inventory, there was a ton of armor and cloaks sitting around that she just picked up. All of the armor was pretty much the same in terms of additional abilities. There wasn't anything present on each piece she looked at. But then there was one item that looked a bit different.
[Northwind soldier cloak
Rank - Epic
Defense - 1320
Item details: This cloak has protected hundreds of soldiers that have worn it. This is passed down to one soldier of the Northwind family every 5 years. Blessed by Givtia, The Goddess Of Wind. It's lifesaving properties allow it to save a valuable soldier's life only once in battle. It's high defensive properties increase its weight but lower it's durability
*Damage received from the Demonic attribute is decreased by 50%
*When used, skills gained by a wind spirit's contract are amplified by 30%
Attached Skill - Safe passage
Durability - 125/154
Weight - 5]
[Safe passage - passive
Rank - Rare
Skill details: A blessing given by The Goddess Of Wind. The user will have undeniable protection for one hit. If the user receives damage beyond their max health value then the skill will activate preventing the user's death.
Skill cooldown - 8 hours
Mana cost - None]
Luna equipped the silver armor from the Cosal soldiers and Northwind soldier cloak. "I think I've got an Idea on how to beat this guy now." A smirk grew on Luna's face.
Archer waited only 5 seconds, unaware of Luna looking through her inventory. Once all of her gear was equipped, he noticed the cloak she wore around her neck.
"So you've taken the Northwind cloak have you?" The anger could clearly be heard in his voice as he faced Luna.
"It has a good skill attached to it, that sword of yours must be just as good if not better than this cloak."
"Now you desire my sword? You are quite the greedy individual I see. But no matter, even if I have to tear it from your cold dead hands, I will retrieve my family's heirloom." Archer charged at Luna with incredible speed.
She wasn't sure which weapon he'd attack with first. The whip had more range, so she focused her attention on that for now.
She used provocation to try and get him to attack first. It worked as the whip then struck out at Luna and she was just barely able to dodge to her right. Her reflexes weren't all that impressive, but her agility helped support her in that area.
She had no advantage over him other than her legendary skill set. Each skill had to be used carefully because if she were to miss, it would leave her open to attack.
There was only the option of baiting him into using a skill and somehow dodging or surviving. Then using the opportunity to fight with either storm or dust.
"Swift'' The pressure Archer gave off as he came towards her was terrifying. She preemptively used her skill and boosted her movement speed. It definitely would help in the fight as it shortened the gap between their speeds.
Archer was already there on her right once Luna dodged. 'How the hell is he there?!' It was like he was leading the battle in his direction. Archer's sword came from below and cut against her armor.
[You have received 122 damage]
She took some damage, but now Archer was within reach of her skill. "Sleepless Storm!"
Strike after strike glimpsed Archer's body, but every single attack missed. It left Luna defeated as Archer's sword slashed into her chest.
[You have received 238 damage]
"Your swordsmanship is sloppy, it's nowhere near the level of a fifth knight." Now Luna was left with ten health. Her only option was to back off and heal. "Soldiers, I need your help! Hold him off for fourteen seconds!"
Each one of them came forward to confront the knight. Luna immediately went down as their battle started.
Archer used a skill "Wind blade!" An invisible blade shot from his sword. It cleaved through the bodies of the two soldiers in front of him.
After blocking another soldier's blade with his whip, wind surrounded the tip of his sword. He pulled back his sword in preparation to thrust it forwards. Using all his strength, Archer thrusted his sword right towards the soldier's helmet.
But before it could reach him, the attack was parried by an Ushain soldier's blade. Luna appeared below his blade and was able to knock his skill aside. Seizing the opportunity, Luna cut into Archer's chest.
[You have dealt 1,482 damage]
Luna's blade knocked Archer backwards. It was strange to Luna, her basic damage greatly exceeded Archer's by a large margin. She thought the skill would activate once Archer threw his first hit.
'His stats must've been focused around the using the whip if that was the case.' Her strength already felt higher than his own.
Luna was semi right in this regard. Most knights had a different style of swordplay attached to their family name. Because the Northwind style uses a whip, it required a large amount of points to be put into the dexterity stat after it was unlocked.
The Northwind family used a style combining agility with dexterity to wear down their opponents with overwhelming speed. But thanks to Luna's swift skill, she was able to narrow the gap slightly between their speeds.
"You asked for a fair fight, but resorted to cowardly tactics!" Archer was furious, his pride was hurt by Luna's attack. "As the fifth knight of the household of Northwind, I shall complete my mission!"
Archer ran towards Luna and used his whip whittling down her health before he reached her. Each strike took off a small portion of her health.
[You have received 63 damage]
[You have received 63 damage]
[You have received 63 damage]
By the time he reached her, Luna's health was almost down by half. The Cosal soldiers tried holding him off by blocking a few of the strikes. But it didn't matter as Archer was already activating his skill. "Spirit's Vortex!"
It was faint, but Luna could see a small creature made of light behind Archer. Almost like it was watching him, just as Noll was with Luna. It was hard to see but it looked like it was frowning at something. It looked sad.
Then Luna's attention was back on Archer as his blade crashed through all of the soldiers in front of him. Each one was disintegrated by the strong winds surrounding his sword. It was a frightening sight to see as Luna closed her eyes. His sword directly pierced Luna's chest, blowing her back into the trees.
[You have received 10,450 damage]
Finally they were all finished. Archer walked over to Luna's corpse and aimed his sword over her heart. "The battle is over" He said as he jammed the blade into her chest.
Or... at least it should have. As her body wasn't there anymore. All that remained was dust, like she was never there. "-Dust!" Luna's voice came from behind him as her sword cut along his back.
[You have dealt 13,602 damage]
Archer's lifeless body dropped to the ground as his HP hit 0. Luna's body fell along with him. She was gasping for air on the ground. The pressure he exuded in those last moments was thick enough to suffocate anyone near him.
[You have killed the 5th member of the Northwind Knights, Archer Northwind]
[You have acquired a Sylph blade]
[You have acquired a Northwind armored Helmet]
[You have acquired the Northwind flurry boots]
[You have acquired a Wind sigil]
[You have earned experience points]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
[Level...]
Window after window appeared in front of Luna. It wasn't something she could pay attention to at this moment. There was a need to complete her quest.
"You could've helped y'know?"
"Don't you know how to use magic?!"
"Huh? How much of that dream do you actually remember?"
<…The important parts?>
"You and I are going to have a talk about this later, for now, let's finish this quest!"
After taking a quick nap, she was back on her feet and ready to finish her quest. She knocked on the door of the carriage before entering. 'I wonder why he's called General Braggart?'