(AN: Don't forget to read the previous chapter first)
Atticus' eyes were wide open. Despite the blinding flashes of their exchanges, they remained unblinking, simply staring at him. The man felt stripped bare.
Their weapons clashed one more ti, then…
Shatter!
The man's eyes widened.
'My weapon broke! How!?'
He knew how high quality it was, to think it would break even while wrapped in his will.
But he had no ti to process it. Atticus' katana descended.
'Too late to dodge!'
The Roman soldier suddenly flashed between them, raising his circular shield and erupting with every ounce of will he had.
"Reflect!"
He roared, and the shield lit up in a blinding explosion. Atticus' eyes narrowed. He vanished just as a crescent slash burst from the light, splitting the sky.
'That shield.'
Atticus slowly descended and landed softly on the ruined ground. Despite the series of intense exchanges, there wasn't a single hair out of place on him.
Compared to him, the others were different. The Roman soldier was drenched in cold sweat, his breathing labored.
The samurai he'd just rescued stood beside him, his hands still trembling from their earlier clash. The knight stood behind them with his battered body, while the monk was barely standing with the support of his will.
They each stared at Atticus with utter caution.
"I must admit," the Roman said, "you're more than we expected. Stronger. You have my praise."
He smiled at Atticus' silence, as though expecting it.
"Still… you cannot win."
He clenched the handle of his shield and it glowed brightly, expanding in size until it covered his leg to his chest.
The knight struck his chest, and his armor and broadsword glowed before shifting in place. They beca bulkier, vein like lines spreading across the surface.
The monk pressed his palms together, and his will flared behind him, taking the shape of a giant man seated in a lotus position with six hands.
The samurai pressed his palms together, then slowly widened them. A band of light stretched and ford into the shape of a katana glowing yellow.
In that mont, the air around them grew oppressive.
The Roman soldier took a step forward, helt covering his face as his eyes glowed red.
"Surrender or we shall grant you a painful death."
"I won't give you that choice. Nothing will save you." Atticus calmly sheathed his katana. His voice was subzero.
"Katana Series: 2nd Art: Endless Cleave."
The eyes of the four constricted. The bright light from the sun vanished, replaced by an endless stream of slashes that surged towards them.
"Converge on !"
The others moved to stand behind the Roman soldier and his shield expanded and encased them, just as the attack collided in a burst of force.
'Hard!'
The Roman soldier gritted his teeth, trying to hold it.
'It'll hold.'
He had been afraid it would be like the earlier attack. While the slashes were endless, they weren't nearly as potent. The shield would hold.
He glanced at the three.
"Get ready to attack the mont it stops. I'll give the word."
The three nodded with serious expressions.
'I'll reflect everything back at the right mont.'
His shield was, in fact, a powerful artifact that could reflect attacks as long as it endured them. The more assaults it accumulated, the more it could reflect.
'We have to end it fast.'
But as the monts passed, his brow tightened.
'What… is this?'
The attacks still hadn't stopped. That wasn't even what shocked him.
'They're getting stronger.'
He could feel the weight behind the strikes. The more they crashed on his shield, the heavier they beca.
'What is going on?'
Bam!
The next wave forced him to take a heavy step back.
'Shit!'
He gritted his teeth but held on. But his eyes showed panic.
'It won't hold at this rate!'
Cracks had begun to form on the surface of the shield. Any more and it'd break.
"Reflect!"
The shield ignited in a blinding glow, and an incalculable number of slashes burst out from it, surging toward the approaching slashes.
'We'll win.'
The Roman soldier's eyes lit up. The slashes that erged from the shield were the accumulation of all the attacks they'd taken so far. The result should've been certain.
However, the impossible occurred once more. Atticus' slashes tore through theirs, converging around them.
"Shit!"
The Roman soldier activated his shield and encased them, but as though it had turned to paper, the barrier was cleaved through instantly, reaching the four.
"Defend! Defend!"
Their wills surged.
A spear materialized in the Roman's hand, and he thrust it with his full power.
The knight roared and raised his broadsword to et the attacks.
The monk slapped his palms together and the six arms of the avatar behind him whipped toward the slashes.
The samurai blurred, unleashing a colossal arc that scread forward.
Their attacks t the slashes, and for a mont they all held their breath.
'Did we… win?'
Atticus' slashes tore straight through, shattering their attacks into motes of light. The four hearts froze.
'We lost.'
Their bodies were shredded as the slashes hit, blood splattering around.
Phew.
Atticus released a breath, then sheathed his katana.
'They were strong.'
The four were incomparable to the people he'd been dealing with since. He could tell at a glance that their world was more than his.
'But they underestimated my true will.'
Atticus' true will was still his greatest triumph. When Eldoralth was still barely two minor worlds, he'd defeated a baron ranked man with 15 minor worlds!
Such was the strength of his true will. A re five minor world gap could easily be crossed.
Atticus walked over to the shredded remains of the four.
'It worked well.'
He'd tweaked the second art of the katana, changing its concept. Since his will and mana were now one, such was possible by simply willing it.
Rather than simply cut, Atticus had willed another. He added a weight factor to the art. aning, each slash multiplied the blade's mass. The more he attacked, the heavier they got!
The four stood no chance.
'Now, what to do.'
The four had at least 29 minor worlds each. Which ant at least 120 minor worlds if he absorbed them all.
It ant ascending straight into Viscount rank!
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