Venare scanned his surroundings in search of an opening within his assailants' formation; however, there was not the slightest gap to exploit. The only choice left for Venare was to fight his way out!
In the end, there was no telling if their "lord" had good or bad intentions. In the dreamworld, going along with things while lacking proper information could lead to one's destruction. This was not a chance Venare was willing to take.
In their right hand, Venare wielded a viciously sharp sword with a blade three-fingers wide, and in his left hand was a pair of throwing knives with serrated edges.
When one of the eight men on his right took one step forward, Venare immediately reacted. With a flick of his wrist, he launched the two throwing knives towards the individual who moved.
Woosh! Woosh! Ding!
The first throwing knife was parried away by its target, but the knight could not defend against the second one that used the first throwing knife as cover.
Phhtk!
As the throwing knife pierced the knight's shoulder, Venare took advantage of the small window of opportunity and darted in his direction. He wanted to break open the encirclement and create some distance to utilize the skillset at his disposal properly. But, as he moved into position, Venare suddenly felt a surge of wind coming from behind him.
"Don't push your luck! I, Prime, the First Knight of the Silverclaw, will not allow you to do as you please!" The man with the scar, Prime, growled as he stormed forward and swiftly caught up to Venare!
'He's fast. In terms of speed, his sword style is equal to Viselo's Sword Arts: Four Steps of Death. No, it may even be a small step above it.'
Due to the constraint of his senses' in the dreamworld, Izroth failed to keep complete track of Prime's movements.
Luckily, even though the dreamworld disabled Izroth's use of most of his Spirit Source abilities, his Soul Sense seemed to be functioning correctly despite the various restrictions.
Prime lifted his sword above his head and swung downward with a mighty force at the ground causing three marks to form. These marks resembled something made by a bird's talon and from them erupted a burst of silver aura headed right for Venare!
When Izroth observed the silver aura, he inwardly frowned. Initially, he believed that this dreamworld did not have power sources to tap from, such as energy or mana. Not to mention, there were no signs of anything related to magic or the likes ever since he was first pulled into the dreamworld.
Rmbbble! Boom!
The ground trembled within the immediate vicinity shook slightly as the silver aura erupted from it. Venare evaded the most dangerous part of the attack; however, he was grazed on his right arm. The force from the blow rattled his arm and caused him to loosen the grip on his sword.
"?!" Venare swiftly twisted his body and caught the falling sword with his left hand. Then, in one smooth motion, he used the momentum from his rotation and sliced at the legs of the knight who was previously struck by his throwing knife!
Bang!
"Not enough. The skillset for this role is too limited. If only I had my actual weapons, then…" Venare muttered to himself as he realized that his sword did not cut deep enough to leave a severe wound. But, not everything was bad news. The force generated by his strike made the knight lose their balance.
Venare wasted no time dashing out of the encirclement through the gap he created.
"Don't let him escape! We will not fail our lord!" Prime ordered.
'The presence of an unknown energy source complicates things. However, I've seen enough to gauge their skills. It's time I make my move.'
As far as Izroth could tell, the biggest threat was that First Knight. As long as he was taken out, the others may be capable of putting up a fight, but it shouldn't prove too much of an issue to deal with them after their leader was removed from the picture.
Woosh! Woosh!
All of a sudden, two arrows soared through the air aimed at Venare. One of the arrows barely grazed Venare's cheek, while the second arrow stabbed into the earth at his feet, stopping Venare cold in his tracks.
"More reinforcements? Your lord must place a great deal of importance on me to go through such great lengths just to capture me alive." Venare said as his gaze swept past one of the rooftops and landed on the one with two men wielding bows. They already had their next arrow nocked, aimed, and ready to fire.
"You could have saved yourself and us a lot of trouble if you just followed my instructions. Our lord may have requested you be brought to him alive, but he never said it had to be in one piece. Still, I shouldn't go too far and risk upsetting our lord. That's why I'll only take one of your fingers as a price for wounding one of my men. A more than fair trade, wouldn't you say? Now, come quietly and-"
Swoosh!
Out of nowhere, Prime felt something cold pass by his neck as a thin red line formed across the area where he was hit.
"Sir Prime!" A few of Prime's men exclaimed as they beheld the wound on their leader's neck.
That's when the group of men noticed a new arrival had found their way onto the battlefield. Somehow, this person had the ability to sneak up on their leader and accurately strike at a vital point! Who was this unknown assailant?!
"So this is why you asked for this location back at the inn. I had a feeling I'd see you here tonight. Though I was beginning to think you'd never show, Viselo." Venare said.
"Your lack of faith is disturbing, Venare." Izroth abruptly adjusted his body and swung his sword in a perfect arc.
Ding! Ding!
Izroth deflected two arrows shot by the archers on the rooftops before retreating next to Venare's side.
"Can you still fight?" Izroth asked. When he attacked Prime just now, Izroth used one of Viselo's skillset moves, Two Steps of Death. It was similar to Four Steps of Death; however, it contained one true movement that capitalized on the opponent's blind spot and one true sword strike to reap their life. These two steps connected flawlessly to create the Two Steps of Death.
"You bastard! Who sent you?! How dare you attack Sir Prime!" One of Prime's men roared angrily.
However, before the man could act, a familiar voice echoed, "Relax, it's just a scratch. But now I'm angry. If I hadn't taken the precaution of coating my major vital points in Aura, I would have died just now."
This voice belonged to Prime, who had just had his throat sliced open—at least, he should have. Prime moved his thumb to his neck and wiped away the thin line of blood. The scratch that revealed itself was merely a flesh wound!
'He survived? Should I have used Death in One Step to eliminate him, after all?'
Izroth was confident that Two Steps of Death had the power to finish Prime off in one blow with his guard lowered. Since he only possessed two uses of Death in One Step, Izroth wanted to reserve them until their use was absolutely necessary. However, it seemed that he had underestimated Prime, or rather the ability Prime referred to as "Aura".
"Since you've managed to land a clean hit on me, I'll give you a chance to tell me your purpose for interfering before your death," Prime stated as his gaze turned sharp and a thin film of silver aura enveloped his body and sword.
"Do you have a backup plan?" Venare questioned as he returned his sword to his right hand.
"A person once told me that some things are better left to the moment—I believe this is one of those moments. No matter what, these men have to die here tonight." Izroth answered as he ignored Prime's inquiry.
"Such reckless words. I'd expect no less from someone that woman chose." Venare sighed.
He then continued, "But, just this once… I'm inclined to agree with you."
"No answer? Very well. Then, you can take your secret with you to your grave. I will kill our new guest with my own hands. The rest of you will subdue our target. Do not kill them; however, if he resists too much, break one of his arms as a warning. I will personally give our lord an explanation." Prime commanded.
