Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage

Chapter 60: Salgaera (3)

Blood started to gush out like a fountain from the decapitated bandit’s neck, covering Vilay in blood. This was a positive development, but the pressing question was: who had cut off the bandit’s head?

The answer: Henry. He had hurled his sword while still on horseback and miraculously cut off the bandit’s head in one blow. It was impressive.

Now all eyes were on Henry.

“Hagler”

“Yes, sir.”

“Get ready.”

“Alright.”

The two dismounted and prepared for battle. It wasn’t such a bad idea for the arrogant Vilay to die as well, but it would mean that there would be fewer people to help with the work, so that made it a little difficult.

As Henry unsheathed his sword, he took a quick glance at Munke's expression. His smiling face was now completely stiff like stone.

‘So there really is something going on.’

He could ask more about the matter later; right now, he had to crush the bandits.

“Kill them,” the man that appeared to be the leader ordered.

Clip clop! Clip clop! Clip clop!

A dust cloud appeared as twenty horses galloped toward them.

Hagler stepped forward, but Henry ordered, “Step back.”

Hagler did not wait for Henry to repeat himself and backed away.

Henry lifted his right foot and stomped on the ground powerfully.

Boom!

The intangible mana soared like smoke and permeated the path that stretched out in front of the two. He had activated the spell Grease, which turned targeted areas very slippery. It was considered one of the more basic spells.

Henry crossed his arms in a relaxed manner.

Gulp.

Hagler couldn’t see mana, and he had no idea what Henry’s plan was. However, Henry’s face seemed relaxed, as if he didn’t have a single worry.

‘I’ll just trust the boss.’?Hagler was still concerned, but he believed that Henry potentially had something up his sleeve.

Soon, the bandits were less than a dozen steps from Henry.

.

Neigh!

“H-huh?”

Thud!

The three men in the lead were the first to fall, and they lay helplessly on the ground, which was too slippery for them to gain traction. The rest of the men had been following closely, and they began to collapse like dominoes. It was a massive chain reaction.

Once the bandits had all fallen, Henry then uncrossed his arms and ordered Hagler, “Kill every one of them.”

“Yes, sir!”

Hagler hadn’t needed to worry. Although he didn’t know exactly what had happened, Henry still met his expectations.

‘He really is incredible…’?Hagler had felt it ever since he’d met Henry in the examination arena. He had never seen a man with such an extraordinary aura before, so the desire to be loyal grew.

Henry and Hagler proceeded to stab the necks of those who had survived the fall.

Sqwelp!

However, there weren’t many left alive. After all, riding horses could be risky because one’s neck would shatter completely from a single horse kick.

After Henry killed the last bandit, he walked toward Vilay past the pile of dead bodies.

“H-how is this possible…?”

It was one surprise after another. Although Vilay had witnessed Henry’s magical performance from start to finish, he still couldn’t believe it. Vilay looked straight up at Henry.

“What should we do?” asked Hagler.

“I told you we need people to work. Bring him to the carriage.”

“What about him?”

Hagler asked, while pointing with his chin to the bandit leader far away in the distance.

“I’ll deal with him.”

Like the rest of the worthless bandits, the leader wore a mask that only showed his eyes. However, it was clear that he was fuming in rage.

After sending the other two back, Henry pulled out his sword and said, “You’re the leader, right?”

Instead of answering, the leader pulled out his sword, and…

Pzzzt.

‘Huh?’

His sword aura was on another level compared to those of the other bandits.

‘A Sword Master?’

His sword aura was longer than that of an Expert, and a thin, uniform aura surrounded his entire body. It was clearly an aura control technique that only a Sword Master could do.

‘This… Good thing I’m the only one fighting him.’

No matter how good Hagler was, he was still only an Expert-class; plus, it was a waste to use a rare, talented man like Hagler on a bandit.

In reply to the sword aura, Henry stomped again.

Boom!

Swish!

Henry had to use more spells than usual since his opponent was a Sword Master. However, to be honest, even Henry couldn’t guarantee victory against a Sword Master. Even though mages were powerful beings, they didn’t have mana powerful enough to easily win over a Sword Master’s aura.

‘Of course this would be a different story if there weren’t any spectators.’

The mana in this situation was pure mana used for hand-to-hand combat. Wizards were prepared and strategic beings. Henry lacked a bit of mana, but if he were determined to use lethal spells, Sword Masters would be nothing to him.

‘Damn, when will my aura manifest itself?’

What a pity.

If things had gone to plan and he had grown his aura at the Caliburn Fortress, Henry believed that he would have already surpassed the level of a Sword Master.

“Since you’re the leader, hopefully you’re not like the others.”

It was only a mild provocation but its impact was tremendous. The leader formed a larger and stronger sword aura. Henry bent from his waist slightly and began to start his acceleration spell.

‘Haste, haste, haste.’

Soon, the power of the wind swept over Henry’s whole body, ruffling his hair. Right as the bandits leader was about to raise his foot, Henry stepped out first and quickly bridged the distance between them.

Clash!

Henry’s sword stretched diagonally from bottom to top. However, the leader’s sword blocked his sword and prevented him from swinging it all the way.

Neigh…!

Instead, he tore through the horse’s neck diagonally, making it groan in pain as its vocal cords were ripped apart.

Thud.

Just like Vilay’s horse, the leader’s horse fell to the ground, dead.

It was known that being astride a horse increased one’s strength dramatically. Although Henry couldn’t injure the leader, killing his mount was a step in the right direction.

Henry grinned as he shook off the horse’s blood from his sword.

“Now it’s fair.”

“You son of a bitch…!”

For the first time, the leader cursed. He had been quite fond of the horse, which he had raised since he was a young boy.

Pzzzt.

Aura was based on emotion, and the emotion that had the most impact on aura was anger. The leader’s aura expanded exponentially, and Henry calculated how much distance he had to keep from the leader.

‘If the distance between us grows, I’ll be in danger.’

As one’s aura grew, one’s sword aura also lengthened. The leader’s sword aura was now so long that it looked like a small spear.

Henry once again activated his acceleration spell.

‘Haste, haste, haste…’

No matter how much mana he added, he would have to find a different solution if he couldn’t overcome the distance between them. Henry decided to use speed as his wild card and the power of the wind swept over his body once again.

Henry took a quick breath and held it in.

‘Now!’

The two were thinking the same thing and attacked at the same time. The bandit leader swung his sword down from Henry’s head down to his toes as if he were trying to cut Henry in two.

However, thanks to the power of the wind, Henry didn’t just move fast. His vision, reflexes, and many other things had improved as well.

‘Vertical!’

Henry used this spell to help him notice the bandit leader’s movements one step faster than his opponent could.

Boom!

The sword aura of the bandit leader left a huge mark at the spot where Henry had stood. It was a tremendously destructive force.

Even though the sword itself was long, the destruction he left seemed to be more than what a two-handed sword could create. Henry shifted his position and held his sword upside down in his left hand and used his right palm to press down on the bottom of the hilt.

‘Sharp, sharp, sharp!’

It was impossible to cut through the leader and even harder to even pierce through his aura, so Henry decided to concentrate all of his strength on the tip of his sword.

Schwoof!

Henry’s sword flew at the speed of an arrow, straight toward the leader’s shoulder.

Slam!

The impact was great even though it felt as though he were stabbing through a steel wall. The concentrated force exerted more destructive power than Henry had expected. Thanks to that, the seemingly unbreakable aura shattered like glass.

“Aughh!”

The boss screamed in agony; his shoulder felt like it had been struck by lightning.

‘Now!’

With the aura gone, it was Henry’s chance. He pulled out his sword as if he were pulling out a nail and held it in his hands firmly. He loaded the maximum amount of mana he could onto the blade of the sword.

Boom!

He had to cut through vertically instead of horizontally to finish him off, even if he couldn’t be entirely precise. As Henry swung his sword, he could feel it cutting through flesh. However, the leader suddenly exploded.

Boom!

“Argh!”

The leader hadn’t used gunpowder; rather, it was likely the extra aura that he had stored in his body. The blast pushed Henry back more than a dozen steps.

“What the fuck…”

Luckily, Henry had covered his head with his arms, or else his entire head would have been blown off. Henry looked around in the smoke, his burnt arms hanging at his sides. However, as soon as the smoke lifted, the opponent he’d been expecting to see was gone.

“He’s escaped?”

Even though Henry was using Targeting to keep tabs on the bandit leader, he still managed to escape.

‘He escaped. But who’d dare say that he’s a Sword Master?’

An arm, which he believed belonged to the bandit leader, was in the spot where the leader had stood.

‘It seems that I cut off his arm and not his head.’?

The flesh that he’d encountered had been the bandit leader’s shoulder and not his neck. The leader had run away, leaving his arm like a lizard leaving its tail behind.

Henry picked up his arm, full of disappointment.

‘Then what’s left is…’

The boss had fled the scene, leaving all of his subordinates and a lot of suspicious-looking clues.

There was only one thing Henry needed to do now.