Amber Sword

Brand understood that his goal was to utilize the displacement effect of Flash Sword, not to kill the enemy. Therefore, he purposefully targeted opponents without much fighting power, locking onto a Little Demon within the Demon Army from twenty to thirty meters away, executing a decapitation with one flash, while using Wind Queen Nine Luminaries to leave a phantom and perform a Puncture Strike.

The demons quickly became chaotic.

Not every one of them was a lowly Little Demon lacking intelligence. The high-level demons assessed Brand’s trajectory—realizing, even without much thought on their part, that the accursed human was heading straight for the Teleportation Gate.

He must not be allowed to achieve his aim. The Long-Horned Demon at the rear was the first to scream, calling upon its companions in a screeching abyssal language to stop Brand.

Unfortunately, it was of little effect. As Hell Lord Lomoka would put it, those Low Demons and Little Demons were even worse than a pile of excrement. Vulgar though the words were, they were quite apt; they became thoroughly confused by their own comrades’ orders, and were helpless against a swordsman who could teleport.

When the demons turned around, the pressure on the Lantoniyan knights suddenly eased. Most of them now had time to look at what was happening on the battlefield; the knights soon witnessed Brand’s heroic act, feeling compelled to shout out in unison.

Barbara was unsurprised by Brand’s performance, yet could not help but feel proud. Proud not for the Dark Dragon, but for her own insight. Though there were many powerful witches in Winter Country, the twelve purebloods were unrelated to her, but who could compare to her perceptiveness?

The Old Witch hadn’t even considered that the Dark Dragon might fail; they were just a bunch of lame goat-hoofed demons. She cackled, grabbing a Little Demon with one claw, rendering it deaf and blind—knights seized the chance to pin it to the ground. Humans were unlikely to recite knight spirit with demons.

However, Barbara hadn’t anticipated that Brand was in more trouble than he looked.

Though the Teleportation Gate was almost in sight, he felt his stamina and mana rapidly depleting. Using Puncture Strike, Wind Queen Nine Luminaries, and Flash Sword simultaneously was a heavy burden on the body. After advancing about two-thirds of the distance, Brand noticed his muscles and movements growing stiff, and his spiritual power exhibited unstable fluctuations.

He shook his head to try and cast away that drowsy feeling.

During the tenth flash in mid-air above the Demon Army, Brand swung the Earth Sword downward. Below, a pitiful creature still gripped onto a bloody human leg, the pale skin covered with bite marks, making Brand feel a wave of nausea.

But it was just a fleeting thought; the Earth Sword had already cut towards the opponent’s shoulder. The heavy sword blade plunged into the rough purple-red skin and muscle, until it jammed against the spine with a crunch, forcing the pitiful creature onto the ground, snapping it into two, its bones bursting through the skin, turning it into a mangled, bloody mass.

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

This scene looked ’spectacular’, but it tightened Brand’s heart. Theoretically, the sword should have sliced cleanly through the opponent’s muscles and bones, swiftly decapitating, as before. Such occurrences were not accidental nor because the Little Demons were strengthening, but because his stamina had begun to wane.

"Antitina, are you hurt?" he gasped.

"No..." Antitina was held by Brand with one hand, her heart momentarily unsure whether to feel fear or anxiety. She had imagined such scenarios alone, but never expected to find herself amidst a Demon Army; the noble lady had no leisure for fancy thoughts, nor dared to look outside.

Afraid to witness Brand’s misstep, she shut her eyes tightly, embracing the ostrich-like mentality of ’if I must die, then let it be together. No, at least let me die before him’, shrinking tightly in Brand’s arms.

When Brand asked her, she shook her head in chaotic thoughts.

That’s good. Brand also breathed a sigh of relief. Imagining charging through thousands of enemies unimpeded was undoubtedly exhilarating, but when it truly came to the moment, he found it was nothing like expected. Enemies on all sides offered no thrill, just a tension drenched in cold sweat.