Since the Commander was the closest, Esmond launched himself at the armoured man, unsheathing his dark sword and cut away the shield in the Commanders hand before kicking at his chest to send him crashing back into other charging knights.
Summoning a dagger to his left hand, Esmond would attack with his sword, parrying the attacks with his dagger to help him manage the number of knights coming for him.
He was more than capable to the first from of the Aeternus Swordsmanship which would seem like a thousand swords cuts were pounding at the body when it made contact.
But doing so would ignite his sword aura, further fuelling the power behind the attack.
Instead, Esmond was doing the basics.
The same basics he'd given to Kane for the droids to learn which relied on form, posture, control, movement, and sense of awareness.
By understanding the flow around you, the body could move instinctively, flying along with the current of the air that was erratic because of the constant chaos.
In Esmonds case, he could create his own current through the air, which left behind beaten and badly bruised knights crawling on the ground, praying the pain they were suffering internally would end.
.
"Carter what are you doing?" Rosie had come down to the kitchen, only to see Carter was laughing and shouting at the T.V like he was watching some sports show.
Curious she went over to look, but when she looked closely, she noticed Carter was eating popcorn and watching Esmond fight against a pack of knights.
"Oh, well… since you're here, sit down and have a watch!
This is great stuff!"
Carter only looked at Rosie for a second before focusing on the screen, not wanting to miss a moment of the action.
Just the amount of attention he was paying to the screen made Rosie wonder what beauty Carter saw in the fight, but soon enough even she was enticed somewhat.
She watched as Esmond sword movement was relaxed and flowing with his body, allowing very little use of energy or strain on the body.
The flow of the sword and dagger were very much the same, acting as extensions of the body.
Each time Esmonds blades with clash with another, a loud ringing sound could be heard.
This was down to the precise strikes and parries Esmond was making throughout the fight.
But Rosie soon thought it might have something to do with Esmonds strategy to only injury, not kill in the fight.
"He's refusing to kill them, *sigh* because it would cause outrage at the Royal Court.
Also, it would require the court to send more knights in retaliation which won't do much for this region or those along the way to Vileta.
However,… disarming each and every one, before sending them back with a letter of intent for our claim and basis, which surprisingly will require the Emperor to travel over." Carter explained to Rosie while his eyes never left the screen…
Not even blinking… once…
.
"That shouldn't be possible?! A note of intent over some land shouldn't be enough to make a freaking Emperor come over!"
Rosie found it hard to believe and even started her own investigation, scanning through the database sorted in the space, but she found nothing.
Just as she was about to put her findings forward, "*Sigh* Esmond… must have been 7 or so years old in that lifetime.
He was the son of a Duke, and Duchess that loved him dearly, though they were assassinated during their arrival at the Capital of the Empire.
Furious and wanting revenge for his loving parents, Esmond used his knowledge from his past lives till that point and transformed his Dukedom into something… unbelievable…
Honestly Rosie, if you can ever see his memories… then maybe… maybe you might understand the pain her felt to put his heart and soul into creating close to 'heaven on earth' as the saying goes…
At that point he refused to bother with the noble society and never accepted any orders of the Emperor, eventually making himself and the Dukedom alienated, but what they never knew, was Esmonds ability to create an intelligence network.
My God! The sauciest news I remember reading one day was some Countess had been caught in some sex scandal where the count could-"
"Focus Carter!"
"Right!....
Ohh that's it, so we found out the Empire was going to send the Royal Guard to collect Esmond, but when they arrived, they were ceremoniously wiped out and sent back with a letter of intent.
I thought the same as you and dismissed the decision as futile, however what I was ready for was the arrival of the Emperor, who turned out to be an old mentor of his father.
Esmond had found a note that was written by his father that spoke of a time when he studied with his mentor who'd told him about the power of intent.
While it gives the Emperor the notification you are prepared for war, it does also mean, 'we are more than happy to sit down and air our grievances through cooperation, because at the end of the day, every planet counts within a Galactic Empire and we still want some kind of cooperation if possible.'
It all matters in the fight for supremacy and authority.
Now, most Empires would go for war, but someone like the Emperor wasn't ready to do that to his disciples fief.
By the time Esmond and the Emperor met, it was obvious to the Emperor the battle would be never ending for his people by the sight of technology around him which far exceeded the Empires.
At that time the Emperor ended up agreeing with Esmond and let him separate from the Empire, essentially creating his own little kingdom, though they remained connected through a mutual friendship.
Sadly, that all went to hell with the puppet that sat atop the throne next and caused a fucking never ending war…"
Rosie quite liked learning about something new, especially if it was related to Esmonds past.
Carter knew everything since he was present for it all so it great to hear it from him, but what everyone wanted to do was see it themselves through Esmonds memories.
So far Carter could do it and Echo, to a point.
Therefore, hearing these stories were something new and fascinating, though they typically ended with Esmonds brutal and agonising death.
"Why are you so sure that is going to work Carter?"
"Because, little Rosie, Esmond is waiting to see what kind of Emperor he is.
When Julius said to Esmond that the Emperor had taken their heirlooms for safe keeping, we both felt something off about it.
No Emperor would take such a step, knowing full well what kind of reaction it might have in the noble society.
Many would think they are poorly funded or looking to clean up the nobles which would band them together.
That's why we actually think the Emperor might be in fact protecting the heirlooms but that is yet to be seen."
.
Esmond had dispersed many of the knights, either by partially crippling them by dislocated their arms or wrist and used the Aeternus Swordsmanship Level 3 style to condense part of the air through movement of the sword to push the bodies aside.
The Aeternus Swordsmanship would eventually rely on the wielders speed and ability to increase the number of swords strikes in the air within seconds to create the air into a partially solid form.
Watching from beside his carriage, the plum nobleman was beginning to sweat uncomfortably as he saw his knights and those of the Royal Guard being thrown around like bugs.
Seeing that nothing was getting done, he ordered one of his mages in the carriage with him to attack.
The mage wore long midnight purple-coloured robes which highlighted his aqua eyes which glowed gently under the hood.
When mage sent out a Mana Energy Surge in all directions for him to get a layout of the area, however as it neared Esmond, his mana surge was absorbed, leaving the mage both puzzled and worried.
In all his time as a Mage of the Royal Court, he'd never come across anyone that could absorb another person's mana which was meant to be poison to another body beside the users.
He sent out another Mana Energy Surge and once again as it reached Esmond it was absorbed by him.
Just knowing this much made the Mage question if it would be a wise decision to attack but seeing the plum nobleman screaming frantically in his face, he reluctantly got up and shot a lightning bolt in Esmond direction, but the result astonished him.
.
*Ding*
[Lightning Bolt has been absorbed by Primordial Human Body!]
[Host has acquired Lightning Affinity!]
[Host Status has been updated!]
.
[Status!]
[Name: Esmond Manston]
[System Level: 1]
[Host Level: 19]
[Experience: 6,453,958,500/1,048,576,000]
[Credits: 5,759,601,000]
[Body Condition: Healthy]
[Soul Condition: Fractured (Healing)]
[Body Status: Primordial Human (Noble)]
[֍ MP ֍: 140,000/140,000]
[Status: Healthy]
[֍ Affinity ֍: Lightning]
[Strength: 89]
[Endurance: 89]
[Stamina: 89]
[Dexterity: 98]
[Intelligence: 106]
[Agility: 87]
[֍ Magic ֍: 72]
[Wisdom: N/A]
[Abilities:
Spectral Consciousness
Taming
Universal Lifeforce Control
o Lifeforce Pace
o Lifeforce Body Strengthening
o Lifeforce Vision
o Lifeforce Manipulation]
*
[Soul and Body Core]
[Quality: Elite Grade]
[Grade: 0]
[Level: 14]
[Exp: 24,000/100,000]
*
.
'AWWWW SHITTT!!!!! FUCK THEM UP ESY!' Esmonds worst critic and best cheerleader, Carter, screamed in his head, while Esmond was busy playing the lightning entangling with his body.
All the knights had stopped moving and were all looking in Esmonds direction with stunned looks and fear.
One had to know that without knowing a sword technique or blades art style, a knight could only grow so far based off their own strength.
The Royal Guards became uneasy seeing Esmond control the lightning around his body because they knew how difficult it was to find people who had lightning affinity.
They knew what dangers came with fighting a mage more than anyone since they would train with the Royal Mages, however it was extremely rare to find anyone that'd trained as both a knight and mage.
Even the mage that'd thrown the bolt of lightning was terrified at what he saw.
In the entire Empire, beside himself, there was only one other Lightning Mage and he was an unknown adventurer who operated out of the capital.
He first thought Esmond might be him but seeing Esmonds basic leather armour with only the shoulder and chest guards made from what seemed like roughly iron.
But when he saw the emblem of the Sicarius Clan on the soliders with the polished steel armour which had a modern aesthetic appearance with its sharp corners and sleek shaping further away down the road, the Mage knew they weren't the same person.
They behaved very differently; plus, the guy he'd just attacked seemed to be playing around with the Lightning like a proficient user.
The Mage didn't know what to do next, but before he could even think of a plan to deal with Esmond, his vision darkened before it went out completely.
.
With the large thud from the unconsciousness Mage falling back into the carriage from the current of Lightning that'd flew through the air when Esmond pointed his weapon at the Mage.
"… Nice…" Esmond smiled when he saw the genuine fear in the knights.
He didn't need to look at their face, their body language was enough to tell him they weren't ready to die, but if someone persuaded them enough, all would follow and charge at him till they died.
"Alright, listen up!" Esmond shouted while bashing his weapons together to attract everyone's attention.
"So far, I haven't killed a single one of your people.
At most they are heavily bruised or injured but not maimed…
Right now, I can see none of you want this to continue…
You all have families and people back home who depend on you and your support, so why give your lives for a swine like that noble prick behind you who's never picked up a sword in his entire life…
Nor would he ever care about your sacrifice.
Put down your weapons…
I will give you food and wine, but all I ask in return is that you go home with that noble in tow and take a message to the Emperor about his behaviour and deceit.
Until I hear from the Emperor, this land shall be under my control as the head of the Sicarius Clan!"
On clue, the droids all moved from the street for their positions, with some heading over to the battle and disarming the knights before taking them into custody.
Isabelle headed over with her own little guard of droids, walking directly over to Esmond, "Should I get started?" she asked, curiously looking around at the state of the town infrastructure.
"Yeah… nobody will know what's happening and if they try to understand, they might just consider it as magic."
"