City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Chapter 537: A Brazen Foe Will Make Its Stand

Torug Yregh

Clang!

He defended again, but I attacked again, pushing Strong Arms, Phantom Blade, Searing Strike, and Bane Eyes to their limit.

He defended with his whole body shaking.

Looking at him, he feels like he could drop dead at any moment.

My cuts are covering every part of his body. Even his head felt the touch of my blade. He is also bleeding from all his orifices, his complexion turning pale as paper.

Despite all that, he is fighting back with his aura, having me in its iron hold.

It is suppressing my power.

I hate aura. It makes the enemy unpredictable, but he shouldn't have been this unpredictable.

The information provided stated that the enemy is between Lv. 30 and Lv. 35, with a strong Lord Class but balanced attributes.

There was also information about his awakening aura less than two months ago.

I have also studied his past battles and understood he is a very talented fighter capable of fighting people levels above him.

He is a talented fighter. He was more powerful than I had thought, but I could have dealt with him, and it wouldn't have taken me more than a minute.

I am Lv. 37 Gambler of Blades.

My class is powerful and becomes more powerful when the stakes are high.

It is as powerful as the Lord Class, and I feel it will upgrade and become a class as powerful as this man before me.

Still, it wasn't enough to kill the bastard.

"You have already reached your limit. Surrender Silver; it will save you a lot of pain," I offered, activating the Gambler's Charm.

"You should be the one to surrender. You might be able to save your life if you do it now," he replied, using a similar skill that is more powerful than mine.

It nearly distracted me. Silver might have had a chance to attack if not for shamanic protection.

'Never compete nobles with charm,' I remember a famous saying before attacking again.

Rip!

He kept defending, and I attacked again until finally, I could cut him again at the ninth attack. It is a small cut on the back that has barely breached his skin.

I could feel him destroying the Bleeding Edge as it activated on the wound.

Before, it used to take a second, but now, it is almost instant.

'He is improving at a shocking speed!' I thought with concern. 

He is not just destroying my skills with his aura but improving the use of his aura with his skills, which are becoming powerful.

Seeing it, I wanted to use my trump card.

If I used it, no matter how good or fast he is improving, he would die, but I can not. If I use it, it is my life that will be in danger.

The people that are fighting with me will kill me for it.

Even the employer wouldn't hesitate to use the contract's loopholes to get it. Since I got it, I have used it only when I am alone.

When I did, I killed the people and wiped out the traces of it.

'Haste, we won't be able to last much in front of this bitch. Send us reinforcement!' said Fodulir telepathically.

I am one of many having problems with the mark. Others are having problems, too, and Fodulir and Strad face the biggest one.

Two of them are fighting against Leila Silver, and she is suppressing them.

Those two aren't weak; both are Lv. 35+ spell blades with one focusing on defense. Those two are the strongest of the spell blades, but that human bitch is beating them.

From the information we had, we knew she would be the trickiest to deal with, but her strength was beyond what the information had said, just like the man in front of me.

What is more concerning is that the two Silvers and the other enemies are doing better than expected.

I want to curse my employer for providing the old information.

We built the plan on the information provided. If I had the accurate information, I could have planned better and finished this already.

'Velha, finish off the rogue and help me here!" I told the rogue. 'I am trying, but this bastard is like a cockroach!' replied Velha.

She is suppressing the rogue but is unable to kill him.

With Velha with me, I won't need more than a few seconds to deal with Silver, but the bastard's rogue is holding her off despite suffering massive injuries.

Hun!

Another minute passed, and I sensed the death.

One of my people had died, making it five, while only two of the enemies had died, despite us having more than twice the numbers.

"Stop the attack, and I promise you, I will match the offer my enemies made you," he said, becoming even paler than he had been a minute ago.

He won't be able to last much longer.

"No, you can not!" I replied, shaking my head.

It is a massive amount of money—an amount I will not be able to earn in my lifetime. Without that, these people and I wouldn't have taken such a massive risk.

It is not just the money but also the protection from one of the most powerful legacies in the world.

Besides, even if I wanted to accept his counteroffer, I could not. The contract is unbreakable. If I tried, I would die. If I didn't complete the contract, I would die.

So, there is no choice but to finish the contract.

A minute passed, and then another, and the bastard was still fighting. He had become even better than in the past minute, so I could not land a single attack on him.

He had become white as paper, but he was still fighting. I thought he would drop dead by now. He should have given his state, but he didn't.

I am using everything I have, including my best skill. Blade's Bet, which increases the power of my attack by 25%.

Hun!

A few seconds passed, and I sensed the death. It is of the enemy; the third one died.

It is a soldier, not one of the powerhouses.

I only need to kill one of their powerhouses, and I will achieve my objective.

Every person is locked in battle. If a single powerhouse dies, it will free my powerhouses. They will then help me finish off this bastard.

That is not the case with general warriors.

Two of mine had been freed after killing the assigned enemy. But another enemy, which had freed itself from a group of four, engaged them, and pressure increased.

Once that group dies, the initiative will tilt in our favor. Then, I won't even need powerhouses.

That is why I ordered my people to finish off the group as soon as possible. Use everything they have, including the skills they are hiding, to do the job.

Hun!

I was thinking about that when another death occurred. It made my expression turn black.

'Yregh, she had killed Strad!' said Fodulir, with panic unmistakable in his voice.

She had killed my spell blade.

'I need help now!' he added, his voice reeking in desperation. 'Just hold the bitch off for a minute!' I replied.

"Jruk. Help, Fodulir," I ordered one of the two mages fighting the water mage.

'He can't. I can't defend against her light spells!' Yerad replied a moment later.

This incomplete information has made things tricky.

We knew the water mage could use the light spells, but they were minor spells. Here, she is using a Grade 4 offensive spell. That was not in the information.

Immediately, I asked others, but the reply was the same. All of them were busy with their marks and couldn't move.

'Archers, support Fodulir!' I ordered.

It was not something I wanted to do. I kept archers on the enemy in front of me. So, mages would be busy defending him, but now I have to use them to help Fodulir.

'Give me a shaman too,' said Fodulir a moment later. 'No!' I replied directly.

I need the three shamans to focus on Silver while the other three focus on the battlefield where the enemy shaman is fighting.

That old orc is good, and some of my archers and mages were targeting him, but he was receiving protection.

The one who is protecting him is most surprising.

The jeweler has formed a dome of metal and gems where the shaman and non-fighting people are sheltering together. It is formidable, and one of my people told me they sense the essence of emotion within it.

Mist Craft.

There was information about her, too. They have said she could use her abilities in combat, but what she is doing is on an entirely different level.

That dome defends them from Grade IV spells—something the information never mentions.

A few more minutes passed, and Silver looked whiter than the dead, but he was still fighting and fighting well.

His control of aura is increasing by the minute. Now, I couldn't even shake him.

He is defending every combination of mine. Not a single attack is touching him. Worse, he is destroying the shamanic attack before they even touch him.

He would destroy it the moment they touched his aura dome.

'How is he even standing?'

I keep asking myself this question. He should have fallen already, but he is still standing.

He has to be very tired.

His eyes are red, and he is bleeding from his orifices, but he is still fighting.

I expected this man to collapse at every moment, but he was getting more powerful. If this continued, he might be able to fight back, not just defend.

Clang!

I had thought that when he defended against my attack before attacking me.

It is the first time he did that.

Clang!

I defended and felt his power. It shook my heart, and I wanted to put that thing and finish him off, but I controlled myself.

I can't do that.

'Yregh!' suddenly, a painful voice rang into my head, and it was from Bror. A blood slash appeared on his chest; the attack by the leader of the guards, Zaris.

'Yregh, these bastards are too tough. It's time; we should use the backup plan!' pleaded Fodulir as he defended arcs of ice and icy sword.

I wanted to reject it.

That is an essential tool. I want to keep it to myself as it could help me escape the danger.

'Velha?' I asked the only person I trust.

The others aren't part of my group. They were hired only with a mission in mind. Only Velha and Fodulir were part of my group.

'Fodulir is right. We should use the backup plan,' she affirmed.

I could feel the unwillingness in her voice. How much she hated to say that, but she said it based on how she could see it.

The backup plan will massively increase the chances of success, but I get a heart attack when I think about using it.

However, when looking at things, there is no choice.

I don't know how long the dead-looking bastards could continue. If it lasted till the bitch killed Fodulir and that leader killed Bror and Tust, it will be very bad.

We will die instead of our enemies.

So, I gritted my teeth and leaped back before removing the scroll and unfurling it immediately.

...…

I saw him removing the scroll and unfurling it as he leaped back.

Immediately, a bad feeling came over my heart. I understood; I could not let this enemy use the spell on me.

So, I gathered all my aura from what I was using and attacked the scroll.

"Ahhhh!"

It gave me such pain that I wanted to scream, and I did, but I pushed the aura at the scroll; at the same time, it shone in silvery translucent light.

The light moved and passed through the aura and covered me.

It was a powerful spell. It resisted my aura.

Seeing that, I focused on the spell. With only one will to change the destination. The scroll is a teleportation scroll; it wants to send me somewhere.

I must prevent it before it sends me to their prepared place.

These are my last thoughts as everything becomes dark in front of me.

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