Chương 55: Chapter 49

The mace-wielding Barbarian was clearly supposed to heal rapidly. He didn't pay much attention to his physical well-being and even went as far as to reveal several openings for Hakon to strike. However, what he clearly failed to realize was the effect of [Bleeding]. Hakon, moving his weapons in perfect sync, used the openings before him and left several deep gashes behind. Those gashes tore wide open as soon as [Bleeding] triggered, slowing the Barbarian's natural regeneration drastically.

His eyes widened as he realized this, and his tactic changed, but he was nowhere near his peak physical condition by that time. Maintaining [Split Focus] and his other perception-enhancing abilities, Hakon focused on melee. He evaded several strikes when his danger sense perked up and diverted others so they would hurt less once they found purchase. As painful as the blunt force was, Hoard Impact absorbed some of the impact, diminishing the actual damage enough to keep fighting.

Weaving around the Barbarian, [Circulation] and [Combat Awareness] active, Hakon's weapons whirled around ferociously, yet with a sense of grace and rhythm that felt… different. New. His weapons, imbued with mana, no longer felt like tools of destruction as he moved around his opponent, slashing and stabbing him at every opportunity. Instead, they started to feel like extensions of his body.

Hakon's range of attack seemed to grow considerably as he thrust his longsword into the Pearot's abdomen, twisted the blade, and whirled around a descending mace, just to use the momentum to plunge his handaxe into the side. [Bleeding] had been applied to every attack. However, as the fight continued, Hakon found himself adjusting the amount of mana infused into the blade, as well as altering the eruption of mana that followed when the blades applied with [Bleeding] came into contact with the target.

Not every modification strengthened [Bleeding]'s effect, but the last two certainly did. A bloody mess unfolded before Hakon, which only grew worse as his foe's strength waned. In the meantime, he felt stronger and faster than before, the sword and axe dancing in his hands as he cut the Pearot Barbarian again and again. Finally, after the mace crashed into Hakon's side one last time, his blade finally tore through the throat and out of his neck. The life in the mace-wielder's wide-open eyes faded.

His legs caved in, and he collapsed to the ground, where he bled to death, spending his last heartbeats praying to the Ancestors. Or so Hakon thought as he stepped away, sacrificing his prey to the Ancestors. The sound of battle echoed in his ears, pulling him back to the situation ahead. The death of Hakon's foe reduced the Pearot's numbers to a meager five, but that didn't change anything. As far as he was concerned, it only meant that the others had a little less to worry about.

He let his gaze drift across the battlefield and frowned deeply. The vicinity was utterly chaotic. Roars of pain and anger mingled with the clash of metal and the sound of breaking bones. Blood seemed to fill the vicinity, coating the forest's plant life, the ground, and the Barbarians thrashing one another. And amidst it all was Björn, his abdomen ripped wide open, his chest dented inward. He was sprawled across a puddle of blood, maybe his own, possibly not, and he wasn't moving. He was de– He's moving.

Hakon realized the faintest movement as he pumped mana into his eyes. The details were unclear, but Björn was severely wounded and on the verge of death. But he was still alive. And as long as a Barbarian breathed, he was alive and could survive. The warrior at the 2nd Ascension seemed to think the same. He appeared before Björn, towered over the Blessed warrior, and was about to ram his sword into Björn's heart when a crimson flash whipped the blade to the side.

Astrid arrived at the scene, covered in severe wounds, looking worse for wear even though Blood Fury ought to enhance her greatly on a battlefield drenched in blood. She forced her opponent away from Björn but paid dearly for protecting her friend. A sudden headbutt forced her to her knees. Hatred burned in her eyes as she stared up at her opponent, daggers clenched tightly, yet she couldn't move quite right.

The crimson hue surrounding her was consumed in favor of her speed, but the Pearot Barbarian smashed the sword pommel against her temple before she could scramble to her feet. She collapsed, all while the 2nd Ascension Barbarian towered above her with a self-satisfied smile. Seeing all that made Hakon's blood boil. The sight was infuriating, and the other unmoving bodies around the battlefield only amplified those feelings. Pumping mana into his lower body, he crossed the distance to the strongest in a moment.

He used [Bash] and crashed into him before following up with a fully empowered [Discharge]. The Barbarian let out a pained roar, confusing Hakon momentarily. Even if [Bash] hadn't been strong enough to stun anyone at the 2nd Ascension for long, [Discharge] certainly should have been. Especially when the target wasn't doing all that well either. The warrior's chest, arm, and back were covered in a handful of bad-looking wounds. Blood flowed from the wounds in streams, telling Hakon all he needed to know.

Astrid had successfully struck him a few times with [River of Blood]. But no matter how bad he looked, a Barbarian at the 2nd Ascension was still at the 2nd Ascension. Hakon pushed on nonetheless, trying to find an opening he could exploit, but his foe recovered in a moment. His blade whipped upward, blocking Hakon's sword. Tilting the blade after they collided, the warrior managed to divert the descending handaxe as well. I'm too slow.

He thought as his foe pushed him back just to execute an attack too swift for him to respond. A red line appeared across his chest, followed by a second, and a third. Neither of the wounds were severe, but they accumulated as time went on. [Evasion] and [Combat Awareness] had helped him tremendously against the Barbarians at the peak of the 1st Ascension, yet now he had to maintain [Circulation], [Flow Observation], and [Sensory Expansion] as well just to predict where the next strike was going to land.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. He still failed to evade the attacks and only managed to avoid the worst, turning lethal strikes into minor injuries. I need to move faster! The thought reverberated in his head as he pushed on, his weapons flashing before him to intercept the descending sword. He failed the first few times, but as time went on, he analyzed the next strike early enough to block it properly.

By then, his body was riddled with wounds, yet the corner of his lips curled into a vibrant smile. Faster! He roared at himself. Moments later, the world around him seemed to turn into a blur. All that remained were his opponent and his weapons. He moved faster than ever, his movements sharper, his strikes smoother than before. But that was only the beginning. As the fight continued, Hakon got struck less and less.

He blocked more attacks and started to move with fewer redundant motions, allowing him to evade some slashes. And as he did, [Weakness Detection] flared to life. An opportunity unraveled itself right before his eyes, and his sword cut into the warrior for the first time. His opponent did something, and his attacks hit harder than before. The attack pattern etched into Hakon's mind shifted slightly, and he got hit worse than before. But that only seemed to reveal more and more weaknesses.

Flaws Hakon took advantage of the instant he sensed the Barbarian's strength fading. He held on almost desperately to his own strength, preventing it from dispersing as well, and pushed onward. At last, his handaxe phased through the warrior's defense and lodged itself deep in his remaining arm. Even with [Reinforcement] and [Mana Infusion], Hakon failed to sever the other arm, but he cut deep down to the bone before releasing the mana within the handaxe in a [Discharge].

The axe couldn't take the punishment and shattered, but the damage was already done. Metal fragments tore through the Barbarian's one and only arm, while the mana within erupted, worsening the damage. Grasping the opportunity at hand, Hakon's right arm holding the sword descended again. He conjured a [Mote of Light] between them, retrieved his last bone dagger in a moment's instance, and hurled it without hesitation.

The Pearot blocked the incoming sword strike with some effort and let out a groan when a light coalesced to his left. The next moment, his groan transformed into a stifled rattle as the bone dagger pierced the Barbarian's neck, triggering [Bleeding]'s effect. His strength was fading. Hakon was sure of it. However, his own power was starting to leave him as well. A mind-splitting headache assaulted him, and his body wanted nothing more than to collapse.

Yet, he stood strong and pounced on the one-armed foe, slashing his arm again. The last strike was all the warrior at the 2nd Ascension could take. Unable to hold onto his sword, it clattered to the ground, transforming the mighty man into nothing more than nourishment for Hakon's Saga. No more than a dozen heartbeats later, the strongest of the Pearot's group collapsed in a lake of his own blood.

When the world around Hakon finally regained its luster, the battle was over. The one-armed, or what was left of him, was lying before him unmoving. The eyes that once flickered with an abundance of life and arrogance were now vacant and deprived of all life. Cuts of all sizes spread across his body, telling the story of a mighty battle. The first cuts were shallow and had already shown signs of healing even before the fight ended, but that was not where it all ended.

As the battle progressed, so did the wounds Hakon inflicted upon his target. They grew progressively worse until the Barbarian could no longer endure them. His only arm was barely held together by his forearm bone, but that had not killed him. Neither had the bone dagger piercing his neck through and through–although it would have probably killed him in due time. It was the blood loss that finally ended him.

His arm stump never stopped bleeding, while Astrid must have worked hard to inflict him with [River of Blood] whenever she got a hit. She suffered a lot in exchange, but her contribution to the death of the 2nd Ascension warrior was great nonetheless. Hakon's legs threatened to cave in as a wave of weakness reverberated through him. He felt cold, was drained of all energy, and wanted nothing more than to sleep through several nights. But that was not a luxury he could afford.

Exhaling deeply, he brushed the Scripture aside and turned to meet Astrid's eyes. No words were spoken, but the grim smile forming on their lips said more than a thousand words. Astrid scrambled to her feet, her gaze following Hakon's to stare down at Björn's unruly figure. The Blessed warrior was not yet dead, and he would probably make it out of this alive, but he didn't look all that great. In all honesty, his death had been certain until the 2nd Ascension warrior died.

Hakon was quite confident about that, considering the flood of mana surging through his friend. The Ancestors must have rewarded him with a Level following the Pearot Barbarians' defeat, his contribution great enough to warrant such a generous reward. Björn's physique improved from the level-up, which also influenced his natural recovery. That, alongside the abundance of mana surging through the Blessed warrior, ought to be enough to push his healing Skill to knit him back together.

Unfortunately, not everyone had been as fortunate as Björn. The tribe lost four promising young warriors in the fight. That included the Bloodbearer who had been impaled by a javelin right before the third stage started. He didn't make it, leaving a sting in Hakon's chest. Four died. Despite that, the young warriors were excited. Their morale rose as high as the silver moon, which only made sense. They survived a battle they shouldn't have won.

Ten experienced warriors, one of which had reached the 2nd Ascension, fell victim to a group of no more than twenty young warriors. Four died, and more than one of Tribe Taskur's young warriors was desperately clinging to life, just like Björn. But the Blessed warrior's condition was clearly the worst, and he would still make it out alive. The odds had been against them. Hakon knew that as well, but he couldn't help but sigh out loud.

"You deserve to feast with the Ancestors. All of you," he murmured to himself, while channeling most of his mana reserves into [Natural Regeneration]. But even as the soothing energy of [Natural Regeneration] reached him, Hakon felt his chest clench and burn with destructive power. Power he released the moment his danger sense picked up some strange movement. A beam, much smaller than the one he'd used against the 2nd Ascension warrior, burst through the air, piercing the heart of a dead Barbarian.

Or one everyone had presumed to be dead. The young warriors standing nearby whipped around and stared at Hakon before looking down at the man who barely managed to let out a desperate roar before Hoard Impact finished him off. The moment the last threat succumbed to Tribe Taskur's youngest generation, Hakon noticed several things. Mana flooded his body in familiar waves, filling him with strength. At the same time, however, strength leaked out of him.

That was when Hakon realized something he hadn't even considered until now. Hoard Impact was more than just an impact-absorbing Runeskin. It could do more than release a beam of compressed destruction when charged. The Major Runeskin provided him with power as well. It made him tougher, faster, stronger, enhancing his physique entirely. Realizing his mistake brought a smile to his lips.

Not because he had been foolish enough to never recognize his Runeskin's full power, but because he had learned that there was more to Hoard Impact than he first thought. Now he only had to learn how to exploit the power of his Runeskin to the fullest. Then, with a little bit of luck, he might even gain the strength needed to fight someone at the 2nd Ascension all by himself. With that in mind, Hakon checked his Scriptures and the Ancient Scripture.