The attendant clicked his tongue in irritation.
"Damn beast..."
His grip tightened around the sword as he glanced at the shallow wounds lining Uga's arms and shoulders.
"So hard to cut."
The blade flashed again.
Steel struck flesh with a sharp sound, but once more the edge barely bit into the skin before sliding away. The youth's body felt less like human flesh and more like hardened leather wrapped around solid
stone.
The attendant cursed quietly under his breath.
What kind of body was this?
Even reinforced by mana, his sword should have carved deeper. Yet every strike that landed only left thin lines instead of serious damage. It was like trying to slice through the hide of a monster.
Across from him, Uga did not react the way the attendant expected.
Instead of charging forward imdiately, the huge youth lowered his gaze toward his arm.
Blood was slowly running down from the fresh wound on his upper arm, dripping onto the cracked ground below.
Uga stared at it.
His large brows slowly knitted together.
The anger that had filled his face monts earlier faded into sothing else.
His massive hand lifted slowly and touched the injury.
The cut stung.
He could feel it clearly.
Uga's thoughts were simple, but they were not empty.
He understood one thing very well.
The man in front of him was strong.
The way the sword moved, the way the blows forced him back little
by little, the way the wounds kept appearing even though he tried to block them.
This person was strong.
But...
Uga's eyes slowly lifted toward the attendant.
Sothing was missing.
The heavy pressure he rembered was not there.
When he fought Michael before, every movent had felt dangerous. Every step had carried a terrifying sense that sothing worse could happen at any mont.
Michael had felt like a mountain standing in front of him.
This man did not.
Strong, yes.
But not like that.
Uga's gaze drifted back to the blood on his hand.
A slow realization ford inside his simple mind.
If this person could push him this much and yet still did not feel as threatening as the current Michael, who did not even need to move to make him tense, then the answer was obvious.
Michael was far stronger.
Much stronger.
The realization did not make Uga angry.
It made him sad.
His shoulders lowered slightly.
The fight suddenly felt less exciting.
The attendant noticed the change.
The huge youth who had been charging like a raging beast monts earlier now looked distracted, staring at the blood on his hand like a confused child.
The attendant frowned.
What was this reaction?
Uga continued staring at the blood running down his arm. The large youth slowly rubbed the wound with his fingers, watching the red sar across his skin.
The anger that had driven him monts ago was gone.
Instead, a strange gloom settled over his face.
Then, under the attendant's surprised gaze, Uga simply turned
around.
The giant youth began walking away.
Just like that.
He simply left.
The attendant blinked once.
For a mont he remained completely still, sword still raised in a
ready stance.
Uga continued walking farther away, his heavy steps cracking the dry
ground as he moved across the ruined terrain.
The attendant lowered his blade slowly.
"...What?"
Normally, this should have been good news.
The opponent had retreated on his own.
The fight was over.
Yet sothing inside the attendant felt strangely uncomfortable.
A faint irritation lingered in his chest.
Why?
He frowned slightly as he watched the giant figure walking away.
Was it because the fight ended like this?
The battle had barely reached its true peak, yet the beast had
suddenly lost interest and left. The attendant had not landed a decisive blow, nor had he forced his opponent to collapse.
A strange dissatisfaction crawled inside him.
Perhaps he had wanted to kill the fellow.
Perhaps the incomplete ending simply bothered him.
In any case, it was better this way.
The beast was gone.
The attendant exhaled slowly and began turning back toward the
summoning circle.
But just as he took a step, his body froze.
His eyes widened slightly.
The beast had seen the magic circle.
The attendant's head snapped back toward Uga's departing figure.
The giant youth was still walking away slowly, his massive back
turned.
A cold feeling crept into the attendant's chest.
He did not know how close the ritual was to completion. His teammates were still feeding the formation with their mana, and the final stage might already be approaching.
But if that beast wandered back toward the circle again, or told
soone curious enough to co see it and they interfered at the wrong mont, everything could collapse and the entire plan could
be ruined.
The attendant's grip tightened around his sword.
His earlier irritation disappeared instantly, replaced by sharp focus.
No.
He could not allow that risk.
Even if the beast had lost interest in the fight, he had already seen too
much.
The attendant's feet shifted.
He was about to move when a hand reached out from the shadows
and closed around his neck.
The movent was so sudden that the attendant did not even see the
figure appear.
His body reacted instantly.
Mana surged through his limbs and his sword arm moved on instinct,
the blade flashing backward in a sharp arc ant to sever whatever
had grabbed him.
But the strike stopped halfway.
Pressure descended on his wrist.
A second hand had caught it.
The attendant's pupils shrank.
The strength behind that grip was terrifyingly strong.
A voice spoke quietly beside his ear.
"I have so questions."
The attendant stiffened.
The grip around his throat tightened slightly, forcing him to tilt his
head sideways. His eyes shifted, trying to see the person who had appeared beside him like a ghost.
Michael stood there with a calm expression on his face.
"It's you!" the attendant blurted out before quickly falling silent. In his
shock he had almost exposed sothing.
However, unfortunately for him, Michael had already caught that brief mont of lost guard.
"Do you know ?"
Before Michael's initial question had been to ask what was going on in
the distance with the prince's group.
First, however, it was necessary to explain how Michael had coincidentally appeared in this place in the first place.
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