Swordplay

Because he had made no effort to conceal himself, Brando was spotted by the guards as soon as he passed through the first level of The Courtyard. After he killed three men, the seven-man patrol scattered and fled, carrying news of the intruder to every corner of the castle.

There were thirty-two guards inside Yusong Castle, most of them mercenaries. Their captain was a mercenary leader from Jandernel, a highly skilled fighter who not only possessed mid-tier Black Iron Swordsman strength but also had a head for command.

Thus, when Brando entered the banquet hall on the second level, he immediately encountered an ambush. Eleven guards were involved. The moment he pushed open the door, the brightly lit hall of his memories came into view, and the archers lying in wait along the upper corridor instantly opened fire, sending a storm of arrows at him.

At such close range, the arrows were already in front of him almost as soon as the bowstrings twanged. Brando only had time to raise his hands and shield his face, chest, and lower abdomen. The blue glow of his protective gloves flickered faintly, and the most accurate arrows were pushed aside by the expanding light—though several still grazed his arms and thighs as they flew past.

Brando gritted his teeth and cursed inwardly. His body with an Energy Level of 4 was equivalent to having muscles that automatically dispersed most of the force, turning injuries that would normally cause severe wounds into ordinary ones. Superficial wounds became scratches, while lighter weapons could not even cut his skin.

But even so, the pain was not reduced in the slightest.

Under normal circumstances, Brando would have known that a large number of guards were lying in ambush along the second-floor corridor. He might have immediately retreated and taken another route to seize the spiral staircase on the other side. The inner staircase would certainly have guards as well, but at least its terrain would not be so treacherous.

But things were different now.

He only swung his sword diagonally upward. A transparent ripple swept across half the hall beyond his blade. With a tremendous clatter, the candlesticks and utensils on the long dining table toppled in the direction of the ripple. The chandelier hanging from the ceiling exploded, while the corridor railing split in two with a crack. Every guard above was separated from his head and came tumbling down.

White Crow Swordplay was Eluin's court swordsmanship. This secret technique was one of the few long-range skills that warrior-class professions could learn in the early and middle stages. At level 0, the blade wind of White Crow Swordplay could travel five or six meters beyond the sword, doubling the width of its attack range. At level 25, the swordplay could strike enemies hundreds of meters away, making it almost on par with swordsmen who had awakened the power of the Elements.

And from beginning to end, it consumed only 3 points of stamina. Compared to the enormous cost of awakening the power of the Elements, that was insignificant. This was why so many people had once eagerly pursued intermediate skills.

Brando's astonishing strike left the hall silent for a moment. Only when broken timber fell from the second floor with a soft snap did everyone come to their senses—

"Knight!"

"Templar Knight!"

"Martha above! Mr. Apuno, let's retreat!" the guards screamed, their will to resist gone as they began retreating.

Sword aura leaving the body was one of the basic skills of a warrior who had awakened the Elements. By tradition, the Temple of Flames granted such people official knightly titles. To distinguish them from knights granted titles by the various nations, they were also called Templar Knights.

Before a knight, a tier-three Strength System was nothing. These ordinary people stood even less of a chance. Unless there were enough of them to exhaust their opponent's stamina, sending more men would be pointless.

"What knight my ass—!" Captain Apuno grabbed the nearest subordinate and yanked him back, cursing furiously inwardly. That was definitely a court swordsman. Could they have been dragged into a court struggle? As a mercenary leader, he naturally knew more than most. He even knew what sort of so-called confidant the noble lord upstairs was. This was not the first time he had been caught up in political strife, but it was his first time seeing a legendary court swordsman.

That was the pinnacle of court swordsmanship, one of the core powers controlled by the royal family. A mere low-tier Black Iron Swordsman could unleash such strength. For a moment, Apuno could not help feeling envious.

Still, he remembered his duty and the reputation of a mercenary. He raised his head and surveyed the surroundings. Most of the guards had already fled, while the rest were not fearless men willing to die—they were simply too terrified to move.

Brando's sword had killed four people.

Apuno had no time to mourn them. He stood up, made a gesture, and shouted, "Retreat! Retreat! Have the men by the spiral staircase fall back. We can't hold this level. We're going up."

Only then did the remaining guards come to their senses. They immediately withdrew through the doors scattered around the hall. Some were so frightened that they even abandoned the arrows in their bows, barely stopping short of stripping off their armor and throwing that away too.

The sight left Apuno disheartened. "Damn it, these noble lords are such a hassle—" he cursed. Then he turned, grabbed the trusted aide from the floor, and slapped him twice, waking him from his terror. He barked, "Go report to the barracks inside the castle. Sound the alarm. Understand?"

"Sound the alarm? But His Grace the Duke said it was for warning the entire city!" The aide froze.

"To hell with that! If the guest dies, we're all finished. Got it?"

The guard froze, then hurriedly nodded.

*********

To be fair, this aide had some common sense. Fearing that the enemy might have accomplices, he did not dare take the inner staircase. Instead, he secretly climbed down alone using the hanging rope in the kitchen. Though it delayed him somewhat, it was at least absolutely safe in his eyes.

He knew Apuno was counting on the barracks on the other side of the castle. A small squad of White Mane infantry was stationed there to support the castle guards, with seven men in all, including a squad leader. They usually looked down on one another, but now he desperately hoped to meet them as quickly as possible. Yet before he had even reached them, he was horrified to discover the bodies of two sentries in dark-blue uniforms lying in the center of the courtyard. The enemy had accomplices. He realized it immediately.

The aide reacted quickly enough and turned around almost at once.

But he was still too late. Before he could get away, a streak of white light shot from the second floor of the barracks and pierced straight through his chest. The powerful force of the Magic Arrow carried the guard's corpse seven or eight meters forward before it slammed into a pine tree and stopped.

Charles stood by the stone embrasure window and watched outside for a long while. Only after confirming that the man was dead and had no accomplices did he withdraw his gaze. He took out his pocket watch, then glanced at the rope hanging from the bell in the clock tower. There were still five minutes until the time he had agreed on with Brando.

*********

Apuno had no idea that the messenger he had sent had already been killed, or that the squad of the White Mane Legion he had been counting on had also been wiped out. He now hoped that the men still under his command could resist a little longer and hold out until reinforcements arrived.

They guarded the stairway leading from the third floor to the second. The guest rooms were behind them, and they had nowhere left to retreat. Though he had looked down on them in the past, he now felt somewhat envious of the servants and menials. At least they could find somewhere to hide and tremble in fear. As captain of the guards, however, he could not.

If that Count died under his protection, he would probably have to change his name and flee into the mountains to become a bandit.

The young swordsman soon appeared in his field of vision.

Brando estimated the time. There were still a few minutes left. He shook the blood from his sword and thought that it should be enough. But when he saw the defensive line formed by more than a dozen guards ahead, he could not help feeling puzzled. Were these men really this easy to defeat? He had expected a hard-fought battle.

He could also tell that the guard captain was at least a mid-tier Black Iron Swordsman. In theory, the other side should have had the advantage. Wasn't that how it was supposed to be?

But Brando had clearly miscalculated one thing: the advantage of skills. He had naturally assumed that if he could obtain innate skills from his starting level and the first five levels afterward, then everyone else should be the same. Brando was used to dealing with players, however, and had forgotten that this was a privilege only players possessed.

As for most of the guards here, before joining the mercenaries, they had usually been local members of the Militia. They had learned some crude swordsmanship, while the rest of their ability came from experience gained in actual combat. Apuno, for example, came from the military and had learned Eluin's Military Swordsmanship. Other than that, he knew nothing.

Of course, even if Brando understood this, he would not show mercy. He knew what the guest they were protecting meant to these men. Neither side had any room to choose.

The guards nocked their arrows and fired a volley.

Brando raised his protective glove and casually knocked the shafts aside. In truth, he only needed to block Apuno's arrow, because the others' feeble arrows posed no threat to him at all.

"First squad, attack!" Seeing that the arrows had achieved nothing and that the enemy was drawing closer, Apuno had no choice but to force his men forward.

He organized seven men. The seven cursed the enemy inwardly for being shameless. Why didn't he go first in a situation like this? They had thought they were certain to die, but the moment they charged out, they felt a phantom blur sweep past them.

They instinctively turned their heads and were astonished to find that the god of death had already bypassed them and reached their captain—

The moment Apuno saw Brando disappear from his field of vision, he realized something was wrong. He had fought the Sun Knight before and knew that the kingdom's knights possessed a technique called Charge Skill, which could instantly increase their explosive speed. His scalp went numb. Countless battle-hardened instincts forced him to raise his sword and catch the incoming blow. With a clang and a shower of sparks, the two swords collided—

"Not bad for a mid-tier Black Iron Swordsman."

Brando thought that the other man's sword had come almost without warning. Even in the game, he would have been an extremely seasoned swordsman. Brando remembered suffering badly around level twenty because of NPCs who had risen through actual combat.

But that had been then, and this was now.

With a thought, Brando gave his opponent no chance to catch his breath and pressed forward with another strike. This time, it was Power Burst. Apuno was nearly scared out of his wits. He could not help wondering what kind of monster this kid was. He had court swordsmanship, knightly skills, and even a berserker's Power Burst. Was there any justice in that?

Even with all his experience, Apuno could not help feeling chilled. It was precisely because he was so knowledgeable that he managed to survive. Anyone else would likely have died without even knowing how.

Apuno had originally wanted to counterattack, but after seeing that strike, every thought vanished. He immediately adopted the most turtle-like defensive posture possible. After their swords crossed, both blades bent backward to their limits and emitted a strained, teeth-grating tremor. Brando was fine, but the guard captain staggered back seven steps and nearly fell onto his rear.

In theory, Apuno's mid-tier Black Iron strength should have given him more than 9 Energy Levels of power, enough to suppress Brando completely. Yet the situation was exactly the opposite.

That was the power of skills—

When Apuno retreated, the guards on both sides finally came to their senses and rushed forward to ambush Brando. But Brando casually swung his sword backward. A blade of wind flashed past, and a large head shot straight into the air.

Then he advanced again. Seeing this, Apuno decisively threw down his sword and shouted, "I surrender!"

The moment he finished speaking, the alarm bells outside began to peal—

"If you're surrendering, drop your weapons and get lost!"

Brando shouted coldly.

The guards felt as though they had been granted a reprieve. They threw down their weapons and fled through every available path. Their hands and feet had already gone weak with fear, and now that their captain had agreed to surrender, they had no will to fight left at all.

PS: Sorry, I went out to eat today, so this came a little late.