Free Web NovelChapter 152: Stomach
When Fletcher lunged forward to take advantage of the fact that the ice arrow had struck his opponent’s left shoulder, Victor easily broke free of the ice and deftly spun his sword, slicing through the air and pushing Fletcher backward as his sword struck Fletcher’s dagger.
The scarred man gritted his teeth as he was forced to retreat.
"Did you really think you could corner me that easily, man?" Victor asked with a slight smile on his lips as he whirled his sword around.
Fletcher ran the dagger against his bracelet as if to sharpen it. "You will pay to let me to die, Victor."
Then Alaria, the archer, shot another arrow in Victor’s direction. Fletcher used this to move forward.
Victor prepared to dodge both, but at the last moment, he noticed a movement to his right. A hooded figure, moving with the agility of a sneaky snake, emerged from the shadows, brandishing a dagger. Victor spun his sword to block the blow, but Fletcher reached him in that second, swinging his dagger so that Victor’s only alternative was to block, sending him flying back several steps.
"Bastard still managed to block," Fletcher said.
The hooded assassin, his eyes sparkling like emeralds under his hood, laughed softly. "You’re not alone in this, boss. We’ll take him down together."
Victor knew the situation was beginning to get complicated. Fletcher was not only with a magical archer but also with a skilled assassin who could hide her presence, even from Victor’s keen senses.
Victor took a deep breath and kept his sword raised, his eyes quickly scanning his surroundings in search of the archer. She wasn’t where she’d been when she’d fired the first arrow, and she wasn’t on the roof of the warehouse either, so where?
A subtle, almost imperceptible movement in the corner of his peripheral vision alerted him to the impending danger. He threw himself to the side, feeling the air cut off by another ice arrow whizzing past where he had been a second before.
Victor looked at the arrow on the ground and said:
"Did you need all that help to defeat me, Fletcher? That just shows how weak you really are," he sneered, trying to destabilize his enemy with words while calculating his next moves.
"Shut up! It’s called teamwork!" The assassin said as she attacked Victor head on after losing her temper.
He defended himself masterfully, but like an assassin, she was quick and slashed several times with her dagger. He blocked, dodged, and countered, keeping the assassin at a distance while looking for an opening to disarm her. But Victor was completely outnumbered in this fight.
Suddenly, the sound of swift footsteps echoed from his right, and a muscular figure appeared in his field of vision. It was a swordsman holding two swords with a confident smile on his face.
"Looks like the fun’s just beginning," Victor said, spinning his sword in a wide arc.
"Let’s see what you’re really worth, old man!" the swordsman shouted as he attacked with both swords at once.
Victor now faced three formidable opponents at close range, each with unique abilities.
At first, Victor remained in a defensive posture, but his calculating gaze quickly scanned his surroundings, analyzing his opponents’ every move. He knew he was at a disadvantage, but years of combat and training had prepared him for situations like this, so he wasn’t nervous.
As the assassin emerged from Victor’s shadow, he narrowly avoided a blow aimed at his jugular and countered with a horizontal cut, forcing her to retreat.
Taking advantage of the momentary opening, Fletcher lunged forward with his dagger ready to pierce.
Victor ducked, rolling across the floor and dodging a lethal thrust. As he rose, he blocked a rapid series of blows from the swordsman, whose twin swords were more like an extension of his body.
Alaria fired three fiery arrows, one after the other. Each arrow was like a death ray, and Victor had to keep moving to avoid being hit, creating a line of arrows that practically traced his path. He knew that if he stopped for a moment, one of those arrows could mean the end of him.
"He’s good." The assassin admitted, wiping some sweat from her brow.
Victor was focused on finding the gaps in his opponent’s coordination, so when the long-haired swordsman attacked with his swords forming an X, Victor easily parried both swords and slid his sword through one of the enemy’s blades, deflecting it. He then twisted his body to dodge an arrow that whizzed past his face.
Fletcher quickly approached from the left while the assassin attacked from the right. They tried to flank him, to force him to make a mistake.
Victor knew he had to act quickly. He threw a powerful kick in Fletcher’s direction, causing part of the ground to rise up in the shape of a stake.
Fletcher was surprised and blocked with his sword, but was still knocked back.
Taking advantage of the confusion, Victor spun on his heels and delivered a vertical blow that knocked the assassin backward.
"Well, it looks like you’ve still got some energy left," the swordsman teased, smiling. "Let’s see how long you can last!"
Victor needed to eliminate at least one of his opponents to even the odds. The assassin was fast, but her defenses weren’t as solid as the others. He decided to concentrate on her. freewёbnoνel.com
The battle continued, with Victor blocking and dodging the coordinated attacks of his opponents. He noticed that the Assassin was beginning to show signs of fatigue as her attacks became less precise. This was his chance.
As soon as Victor had blocked another of the assassin’s blows with his sword, he kicked her in the stomach. The force of the blow sent her staggering backward, and Victor lunged forward, his blade flashing in the air. In one swift, abrasive horizontal slash, Victor sliced her in half.
The assassin’s torso fell to the ground with a deafening thud, and blood stained the ground beneath her feet.
Victor barely had time to breathe before the long-haired swordsman lunged forward again, his swords flashing with deadly skill.
"NOOO!!! CIRILLA! You son of a bitch!" the swordsman shouted. ƒreewebɳovel.com
Victor analyzed the swordsman’s desperate movements and blocked each of his angry attacks. Victor allowed himself to be pressured for a few seconds, dodging a sideways blow and spinning to deliver a counter-attack that the swordsman deftly blocked. He stepped back slightly, feigning a slip, and the swordsman took the bait, lunging forward with a ferocious attack.
"I SWEAR I’LL KILL YOU!"
Victor seized the opportunity and dodged, letting the enemy’s two blades pass dangerously close to his face. In one swift motion, he shifted his back and positioned his sword to deflect the swordsman’s second blade. Taking advantage of the enemy’s moment of imbalance, Victor simply placed his sword in the right place at the right time, stationary.
The swordsman let out a muffled groan of pain as Victor’s sword pierced his chest and killed him.
"Son of a..." Alaria muttered.
It was then that Victor’s eyes finally found her. Alaria was hiding in the ceiling of the warehouse itself, but unlike before, she only appeared when she fired an arrow, so when Victor looked after the arrow had come, he couldn’t find her.
Without hesitation, Victor grabbed his own sword, and with superhuman strength, threw the blade at Alaria.
The sword sliced through the air with a sharp whistle and found its target. Only the thud of her body hitting the wooden ceiling could be heard.
Victor didn’t have time to check if the archer was dead or just incapacitated. His attention immediately turned to Fletcher, who was standing next to the dead assassin’s body.
"This woman was happy in her last days and hopeful for a good future." With a hint of pain in his voice, Fletcher said. "You really are a monster, Victor Shieldman."
"My opponents used to say that. It’s even nostalgic to hear," Victor revealed. "But, believe it or not, even I don’t like killing people. I usually avoid it as much as possible and make sure it doesn’t happen."
"And you held back now?"
"No, of course not. You vowed revenge on me, Fletcher. If I killed you and let your companions live, the flame of vengeance would still be alive and haunt me. I can’t let that happen, especially since the flame of vengeance can hurt those I hold dear."
Fletcher smiled at the corners of his mouth. "Don’t worry, the flame of vengeance will catch up with you now. This night has seen enough death, but all will be well when your head is finally in my hands."
Victor raised his fists like a boxer, for he was now unarmed. "Try your luck."
Fletcher, with a cruel smile on his lips, advanced confidently with his dagger. He was a skilled fighter, but Victor dodged easily and countered with a straight right.
Victor’s punch caught Fletcher in the middle of the face, stunning him and sending him staggering backward. Then Victor slammed his foot into the ground, raising a stone pillar behind Fletcher, who hit his back against the pillar and stopped staggering, but still stunned, he couldn’t do anything when a second punch, this time from the left, exploded against his stomach, causing him to throw out everything in his stomach.
