Like a charging bull, he shot at Lazarus with his crackling lance.
Pang!
"Wha?"
As soon as he crashed right at Lazarus, his unwavering lance was suddenly blocked easily.
"..?"
Lazarus even had a look of confusion at what had happened.
'My lance was suddenly drained out of power. It doesn't seem like it was Lazarus because he also looks confused.'
Jude averted his gaze at Xerel and once he saw him, his eyes shot in anger.
"Heh.."
Revealing a smug, Xerel played on his palm what seems to be a lightning ball.
"You!"
Angered, Jude tried to change his targets but Lazarus promptly stopped his advance by knocking him off with a thrust of his lance.
"Khuaak!"
Jude puked out a handful of blood from the sudden blow in his chest. Lazarus was able to pierce through his silver armor.
"In a battle, never look away from your opponent."
"Tch! [Summon: Kaizer]"
Two magic circles appeared from the ground and the air and a giant silhouette of a four-legged animal appeared.
Neigh!
Ting~
[Jude Fallon (Enhanced)
Rank: Silver Knight (Chariot)
Level: 73
HP: 61,812/65,700 (+50,000)
State: Serious, Flustered]
A white-maned horse appeared full in armor set of silver and eyes glowing in yellowish thunder and when tapped its hooves, electric sparks would appear on the ground.
"Xerel, back off. This is gonna be dangerous."
Lazarus said using [Mana Communication]. Xerel already knew right after he saw the summon appear.
"I know, his summoned horse is overflowing with Mana, no to say the truth, he summons IS made of Mana itself. Be careful, don't focus your attacks on the horse, once you can deal with a fatal hit to the summoner, the horse will be weakened."
"Thanks for the heads up."
"No worries, I'll try my best to do something too."
Xerel hurriedly concealed himself using the surrounding Mana. Jude jumped up the horse and it started to neigh loudly.
Neeiiighh!!!
"It seems that your friend has disappeared but no worries, once I kill you, I'll get your friend next."
"Youth these days are all bark and no bite. If I were you, you need to make sure to entertain me."
"You bastard!"
Tududugtududug
With his horse, his speed had quadrupled, in less than a second, he was in front of Lazarus. He lunge his lance straight at his face but Lazarus was quick enough to block the attack using the lance he was wielding.
Kwang!
Sparks and collision resonated from the attack and Lazarus was flung back by a couple of meters.
He landed on the ground leaving a trace of his feet dragging on the dirt. Small steam of smoke appeared from where the lance had hit his own and a drilled mark had been left on it. Although it was shallow, considering that the attack was nothing more than a basic attack, it was still dangerous. Lazarus couldn't help but reveal a grin.
"That was dangerous."
Lazarus calmly said as he looked at the dent on his lance.
"There won't be a second time! [Quintellium Pinch]!"
Tzzzz!
Like a strike of lightning, Jude appeared in front of Lazarus. Hundreds of afterimages of his lance appeared on his front and each one struck him like a needle.
Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha ...
The ripples of each strike warped around his body and although his armor was quite durable to withheld the consecutive attacks, Lazarus was forced to crash and kneel to the ground.
Bang!
"Check!"
Lazarus coughed up blood. His armor wasn't damaged but his insides felt like it was being pierced by needles. He stood up groaning in pain as he returned his lance in his satchel of weapons.
"I guess I was a bit too arrogant. I'll take you on seriously now. [Weapon Mastery: 3rd Armament]."
Lazarus' body started exuding steam and his breath released a smoke. He pulled out in his back a spear designed with a blue and red tint. The spear was 2 meters long and its sharp point had a sawed edge on it, as soon as he held it in his hands, the aura he emitted drastically changed as if he had switched to a different person.
"[Advance]!"
Choo!
Lazarus lunges his spear forward causing a break in the sound barrier. A loud boom resonated in the forest and quickly alarmed the soldiers who were on guard.
In an instant, Lazarus appeared behind Jude and as the sound disappeared, Jude has suddenly blasted away from his horse and tumbled to the ground as he rolled and crash into a tree.
Kwang!
'I didn't see him? Why am I suddenly laying on the ground?'
Jude was dumbfounded. The shock from the attack was so strong that he didn't realize that the side of his abdomen had been completely turned away from his body. He only realized it as he suddenly felt the cold breeze permeate through his body which one could feel when they are naked.
"..!"
His eyes grew wide upon seeing the open wound but a spearhead was already coming to his face.
"[Flash]"
Boom!
Lazarus' spear destroyed the trees on the straight line from impact. Jude manage to escape death by activating a Sprint skill but he wasn't too far from the retreat as he tumbled towards his horse and held on to its back to elevate itself up.
Splash!
"Urrgh!!!"
He opened a healing vial he stored in his small satchel and splash on onto his open wound. It started to regenerate back the torn organs and flesh but the pain was insurmountable.
"Oh no, you don't!"
Lazarus' quickly pursued the healing Jude and thrust his spear vertically at the speed of the bullet but yet again, Jude was able to evade the incoming blow by blinking away with his horse.
"Even after 20 years, you're still the same powerful knight as spoken in the records."
"I don't need your compliment."
"That only makes you more dangerous for the empire, even if I can't defeat you, dealing a fatal blow will be enough to slow you down. Herudith should arrive soon and even if you manage to escape, your only choice would be to enter Para Woods but that is simply suicide."
"You're right. Only if that would happen."
"..?"
Peng!
A beam of light suddenly penetrated his shoulders and left a hole in them. Jude's shock made him quickly avert in his back.
"Kehuouk! You sly bastard!"
[-12,890!*]
[DEATH MARK HAS BEEN INFLICTED! (1/10)]
[-1,789]
.
.
Jude cursed at Xerel who appeared from behind and shot a [Magic Missile] with all the Mana he could gather inside him.
"I'm gonna kill you!"
In a fit of rage, he charges another ball of lightning but his horse suddenly dissipates to nothing causing him to flop down the ground and interrupt his charge.
Thud!
"What- now!?"
Jude was dumbfounded by the sudden disappearance of his horse. He stared at Xerel and could sense the surrounding Mana around him enter his own.
Ting~
[+12,990 MP]
'Well, that quickly filled up. It would be a waste to throw this Mana away, hmmm..how about we cast dozens [Magic Missile] simultaneously? That'd be a good idea!'
Numerous magic circles appeared around Xerel as they faced the flopped Jude on the ground. A spherical ball of Mana started to form from these magic circles with each having different Elemental colors.
"Chuck! Fuck!"
Jude pulled all his strength through his lance and charge up a thunderous strike of lightning and blast it Xerel.
Tururururug!
"..!"
His eyes grew wide as he watch the streak of electricity stop mid-air which Xerel handled with a gesture of his hand. A simple snap of his fingers turned the electric charge to pure Mana which he distributed among the [Magic Missile]s to increase its power potency as it continued to charge and use the excess Mana on Xerel's body.
"I repeat, don't look away from your opponent"
Slash!
A spearhead drilled through Jude's back and over his chest causing a rupture through his heart as his health quickly fell to 20%.
"Check!"
He puked buckets of blood as he helplessly get raised by the spear from the ground. His slow consciousness faded from the fatal blow.
"Die!"
Peng! Peng! Peng!
Each one of the [Magic Missiles] simultaneously flew towards Jude's body and burn, pulverize, rot, electrocute, bash, break, entangle, flash, darkened his body. The accumulated damage had already killed him but added with the corrupted effects of [Death Touch] his body including his armor and clothes disappeared into ashes leaving only Lazarus' bloodied spear.
Ting~
[YOU HAVE KILLED JUDE FALLON!]
[+423,899 EXP]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
.
.
.
.
.
Countless window panels popped up from his view. Killing Jude resulted in 30 levels which Xerel was glad to accept but felt bitter from what had occurred.
'I... can't believe, I killed a person.'
Xerel stared at the ground with his body trembling. He closed his eyes and relaxed his breathing. He was immediately in a state of peace which was the help of [Nirvana].
In a world of predators and prey, one should be ready to kill his kind. He was mentally prepared when this time comes but having the thought of inhuman killing always lingers on the back of his mind.
"Let's go, Herudith will arrive soon.."
Lazarus could understand the gloominess of his expression. He wasn't in the state to comfort Xerel since time was ticking fast. They needed to escape if they want to survive.
"I've said it before if you want to come with me, there will be a lot of deaths that you'll have to face. You were fortunate that who you killed was an enemy but in the future, you'll be forced to kill the innocent for the sake of the majority."
Lazarus wasn't a person to sugarcoat his words and he was simply straightforward. He was quite harsh with his tone but Xerel still bears it in mind.
' He's right, if I want to protect the life of my loved ones, I have to be ready to pay it with blood.'
Xerel strengthen his resolve and returned to his senses. To atone for his sins, one spent life was equal to saving a hundred lives.
"Let me heal you first."
[+769 HP]
[+890 HP]
.
.
.
"Oh, thanks."
The wound in Lazarus' body rapidly heals up. On the outside, he simply looked grateful and calm but on the inside, he was already stunned and in awe from what Xerel had done.
'Despite barely being the level of a soldier, his magical capabilities exceed that of a great wizard. His Mana concealment is on par with an Arch Wizard and I heard that multicasting can only be mastered after training for centuries, this kid barely looks like he's in his 20s! I would've been glad to teach him my ways but he's more suited to wizardry than to weaponry.'
Lazarus couldn't help but sigh. He didn't fret on it longer as they both started to traverse deep in the forest.
'Status.'
Ting~
[Player: Xerel
Level: 1 (+30) [LOCKED]
Class: None
+Sub-class- Sorcerer Supreme's Disciple
Title: One in a million (6 more titles)[LOCKED]
Race: Human
State: Stunned
HP: 500/500 [LOCKED]
MP: 100/100 [LOCKED]
STR: 10 [LOCKED]
AGI: 10 [LOCKED]
INT: 10 [LOCKED]
DEF: 10 [LOCKED]
Status Points: 0 (+300)[LOCKED]]
'Now that I have 300 status points, I need to increase my attributes. This world is too abundant with Mana that I couldn't waste my time spending all my Mana in one shot when I can simply regenerate it infinitely so adding in intelligence is needless. My combative response is already superior but my body can't keep up with it so I should increase my strength, agility, and defense to put up with my lacking firepower.'
'Distribute 125 in Strength, 125 in agility, and 50 in Defense.'
Ting~
[Player: Xerel
Level: 1 (+30) [LOCKED]
Class: None
+Sub-class- Sorcerer Supreme's Disciple
Title: One in a million (6 more titles)[LOCKED]
Race: Human
State: Stunned
HP: 500/500 [LOCKED]
MP: 100/100 [LOCKED]
STR: 10 (+125) [LOCKED]
AGI: 10 (+125) [LOCKED]
INT: 10 [LOCKED]
DEF: 10 (+50) [LOCKED]
Status Points: 300 (-300)[LOCKED]]
"Nice~ By the way, why is Para Woods so dangerous that even the Knight Jude guarantees that you won't survive?"
"I'll explain to you as we go."