Chapter 262: You Are Like Sand (3)

It was a perfect encirclement. I was prepared to fall within a few exchanges, but they didn’t rush me all at once. A strained look twisted across the marquis’ grotesquely melting face. It was as if a fragment of his lingering self was forcing the others to hold back from attacking at once.

The closest Leandro copy stepped forward alone. He brought down a worn blade with the ease of breathing. The sword was absurdly fast, without even whistling through the air.

I didn’t even have time to think of dodging. Gripping my hilt with both hands, I raised my sword high to block. One worn blade, one swing—yet it carried the weight to make the earth tremble. As if that weren’t enough, his massive horse moved with eerie grace, driving the blade with its full weight.

Hihihing...!

Despite my Rare-grade skeletal steed giving it all, it couldn’t help but stagger and buckle to one knee. I barely managed to calm it and retreat. Thankfully, the dripping marquis showed no signs of hostility, allowing me to pull back.

Could I win this? After just one clash, doubt settled in. No, I couldn’t. That truth had already been decided from the start. There was

absolutely

no way I could win. There were thirty of those things. How it was even possible was a different question altogether, but the chance of victory was below zero.

Squelch.

As I watched a corpse being crushed under a hoof, a sudden thought struck me. The reason why the two tower masters could toy with an army of 110,000... I was almost embarrassed that I hadn’t thought of it sooner.

Force Shield.

Deploying a shield beneath my feet, I rose into the air and forced some distance between us.

Hihihing!

[Your skeletal horse becomes highly excited as it steps onto the air.]

[Taming Trait activated. The excited skeletal horse is now able to run calmly through the air.]

[Your skeletal horse’s loyalty has increased.]

[Your skeletal horse has gained a large amount of experience.]

It worked. Its hooves stepped firmly onto nothing but air. Surely, if I could rain down magic from the sky, even if there were thirty of them...

Hihihihing!

Just then, all the Miyus bounded excitedly alongside my shield like ghosts.

"You’ve got to be kidding me..."

Did they sense it and immediately leap up? I was still processing the shock when the Leandro copies below picked up the countless weapons scattered across the battlefield and hurled them at me.

Fsshhh!

An eerie sound ripped through the air as over five weapons soared at once. It was hard to believe they were throwing swords and spears.

Crack!

Snap!

Crunch!

The Force Shield shattered like glass. The weapons, still brimming with momentum, struck my skeletal horse. I had no strength to redirect it somewhere safer or deploy another shield.

This wasn’t flight magic. I was simply mimicking a mage, stepping on shields as a desperate improvisation. Naturally, my range of movement was severely limited. If those weapons had been hurled at the ground, they would’ve embedded themselves so deeply their hilts wouldn’t show.

In that storm of brutal violence, the once proud steed of the imperial cavalry captain was pulverized. Over half its body was reduced to powder as it plummeted.

Ding!

A chime rang out, utterly unfitting for how I felt. A translucent system window appeared.

[Your skeletal horse has been destroyed.]

[The core has been completely damaged. Restoration is impossible.]

[All accumulated loyalty has been lost.]

[All unlocked traits have been removed.]

Fifty meters in the air, I kicked off the last shield, propelling myself again.

Swishhh!

More weapons tore through the air. This time, twenty. Four times the number that had erased my mount. I could feel it. They would never forgive the arrogance of playing in the sky. Just then, one of them who had followed me closed in and our blades clashed.

Clang!

Suction.

[Wind Claw]

Harpy’s skill. When landing an attack on an airborne target, it would pull them toward me.

[Skill Combination Bonus activated!]

[Combining Suction and Wind Claw...]

[You can now swap positions when clashing weapons midair.]

My sword pulled the Leandro copy toward me, and I swapped places with him. Perhaps from the shock of losing my mount, I hadn’t even considered how precise it would be.

Thunk!

Splat!

Even I wouldn’t have been able to react to that. The Leandro replica failed to summon his defensive aura in time. The hurled weapons couldn’t tell friend from foe and simply flew.

Thunkthunkthunkthunk!

He was skewered with countless weapons all over. As we fell together, I drove my sword through the writhing thing’s skull. Instead of red blood or gray brain matter, a stream of green mucus burst from the punctured wound. However, that deep green hue didn’t just come from the slime.

Uuuuuuung...

The falling Leandro replica glowed with a familiar, vivid green light.

[Skill: Gravity Manipulation Lv. 1 activated.]

I plummeted quickly to avoid the next wave of thrown blades. Contrary to my expectations, nothing came. Instead, one of the remaining twenty-nine slowly picked up a sword from the ground. The weapon didn’t even make a sound as it left the sheath.

He began to walk toward me. I raised my sword in his direction and glanced around the perimeter. At some point, all twenty-nine replicas had dismounted. I vaguely remembered seeing them dismount after my skeletal horse vanished, but I wasn’t sure.

Turning slightly to the side, I spotted a corpse radiating green light. In a situation where the end could come at any moment, I couldn’t afford to leave things be, no matter how futile it seemed.

Essence Absorption.

I extended one hand to draw in its essence, then slowly brought both hands together to grip my sword. Even without direct contact, the absorption held.

Uuuuuuuung...!

What was I trying to obtain? Stats already at 100 couldn’t be absorbed further. That left skills, likely something related to swordsmanship. Nothing appeared yet, perhaps because I couldn’t focus on the absorption.

How strange. One replica had miraculously been pierced midair and thrown to the ground. I expected a swift, brutal assault to follow from all directions. And yet, the Leandro replicas still refused to coordinate their attacks. They simply stood there, watching.

A duel? Were they honoring my intent for single combat? Such absurd fairness. An obsession with one-on-one duels. In actuality, I’d never needed to circle around to the outskirts at all. If I just made it clear that I was challenging them to a duel, these replicas would never strike me all at once.

It felt as if the will of Leandro von Batyenne, who had been devoured and duplicated by that larva, was still struggling deep inside. Unlike Baron Chandler of Grassmere, that fierce sense of self hadn’t been fully consumed.

Which of the two was the rarer case? No need to think too hard. Of course, it was Leandro. Even after being torn into dozens of pieces and consumed to be replicated, to still uphold his principles... Just how overpowering was his ego? I couldn’t even imagine.

As we stood in tense silence, the world around us grew darker. The red dusk vanished too quickly, replaced by thunderclouds. A summer downpour erupted.

Shhhhhaaaa...

Rain poured so hard that I couldn’t see five steps ahead. It fell on dried blood, softening the still-malleable parts and washing them away. The chill stole away body heat. Any living human would’ve had their sword arm trembling by now. Yet Leandro von Batyenne’s replicas stood calm, as if not a single drop had touched them.

It wasn’t just bravado. The rain didn’t even reach them, each droplet repelled just above their heads. They manifested protective auras of that strength as if it were second nature. The one who had drawn his sword and now approached me was no different. Feeling a creeping disadvantage, I raised a shield above my head.

Tududududuk...

The shield repelled every raindrop like a transparent umbrella. Its coverage far surpassed the protective aura of the replicas. The approaching replica gave me a strange look. Then, without any preparatory stance, he swung his sword.

Force Shield. Thunder Wave.

[Skill Combination Bonus activated!]

[Combining Force Shield and Thunder Wave.]

[Activating Lightning Shield!]

[Weather condition: Highly Favorable.]

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

[Damage increased by 50%.]

Crack!

Lightning surged through the swinging blade, throwing the replica slightly off balance. I didn’t miss my chance and struck immediately. Even with lightning coursing through him, he blocked without flinching. As if copying my earlier technique, he controlled his energy to trap my blade with his own. I let go of my sword.

Iaijutsu.

I drew another sword from my waist and slashed upward. The lightning-infused strike—amplified by terrain advantage—tore into his shoulder. From the tattered wound, a burst of murky green slime sprayed into the air. Still, he let out no scream.

I didn’t stop. I pressed forward. Even though I was just fighting a writhing larva impersonating the marquis, I felt exhilarated for some reason. In a flash, fifty exchanges had passed. A ridiculous thought crossed my mind: How fun would it be to fight the real Leandro like this?

Thwack!

My sword, carrying the blessing of darkness, pierced the marquis’s abdomen. So immersed in the fight, I’d lost count of the exchanges. Lightning burst forth, making the replica tremble. Already riddled with over ten wounds, he vomited green slime from his pierced belly and collapsed.

Squelch.

A burst of green light erupted into the sky.

[You have absorbed Sword Energy Lv. 4!]

After drawing in the green essence from both fallen foes, the Sword Energy finally rose to Level. 4.

Fsshh!

It wasn’t just because of the lightning. A deeper, more resonant sound accompanied the blue aura now blooming along my blade.

Tap... tap...

Another replica slowly approached through the rain. I was thrilled. At this rate, maybe I could defeat them all, one by one. The fight would only get easier. And if I succeeded in absorbing all thirty...

Perhaps the real Leandro was helping me in that larva vessel—training me, tempering me. When else would I have the chance to fight enemies of this caliber in succession?

To help me get stronger—strong enough to trample the empire that reduced him into this state. It felt as if a will not yet devoured by the insect was calling out to me. And I had no reason to refuse. Just as I stepped forward to face the next one...

Crrrrk...

A carving sound echoed. Glowing red glyphs surfaced in the replica’s eyes. The marquis began to cry red tears. Endlessly, they streamed down his cheeks.

Once a Swordmaster of the Empire with immense skill and pride, he was murdered for refusing to cooperate with the imperial shadow, consumed, and replicated by monstrous larvae. Now, he was enslaved by a new will once again. His ironclad belief, unyielding even after being copied dozens of times, was cruelly shattered by that red sigil.

"No..."

Unlike the muttering voice of the larva claiming it wasn’t ready, this was a dying whisper. A final cry of Leandro’s soul.

"...!"

I couldn’t even grasp what had just happened. An old, brittle sword, barely holding together, surged with Sword Energy as it came flying. From below, above, and the sides, twenty-eight blades lunged toward me.

Leandro would never lower himself to a two-on-one fight.

Every strike was too fast to dodge and too strong to deflect. Though their blades held barely half of Leandro’s true power, they were still more than enough.

Crash!

My skull turned to dust. And with it, my consciousness scattered into nothing.