Barkan hurriedly assessed the situation.
Another man stood beside the kid.
Blood dripped from the tip of the man's sword.
It was a face Barkan knew well.
'A squad leader of the White Wolf Knight Order.'
After fighting in countless wars, one naturally came to know the enemy's soldiers.
All the more so when they were people who had survived numerous battlefields.
Just then.
"Urgh......!"
Another scream rang out.
Thud. One of the soldiers collapsed limply to the floor.
Barkan's gaze shot to the side.
A woman stood beside the fallen soldier.
Barkan's eyes widened.
'How?'
He had not sensed anything.
Her expression had not changed in the slightest.
A bloodstained sword rested in one hand.
'She's skilled.'
Her eyes were cold and composed.
'I can't underestimate her.'
And it was not only that woman.
That squad leader did not feel remotely like an ordinary soldier either.
He did not know why the kid beside him had come, though.
Barkan's mind raced.
Dragging this out would put him at a disadvantage.
"Joseph!"
One of the soldiers near the door turned his head.
"Yes!"
"Get out and send the signal!"
"Understood!"
Joseph turned at once.
The door was only a few steps away.
The instant he grabbed the handle and opened the door.
CRASH—!
"Urk!"
The door was ripped inward.
Joseph's body flew with it.
THUD! The soldier slammed into the wall and tumbled to the floor.
A huge shadow appeared beyond the torn-away door.
"Where do you think you're going?"
The voice growled like a beast.
Barkan hurriedly studied the man.
'The madman of the White Wolf Knight Order.'
An enormous build.
Broad shoulders and thick arms.
He looked more like a wild beast that had burst from the plains than a man.
He entered the house with a greatsword resting on one shoulder.
A savage grin even hung from his lips.
"It'd hurt my feelings if you ran away while your guests were still here."
"Urgh......."
Joseph writhed on the floor.
Whoooosh— A faint light bloomed from his hand.
Barkan's gaze changed.
'It's done.'
A small artifact was clutched in Joseph's hand.
The pattern engraved on its surface glowed red.
Calm returned to Barkan's eyes.
Judging from their gazes fixed straight ahead, they did not seem to have noticed the artifact.
"Four of you?"
Barkan slowly looked around.
"You didn't think we came all the way here with no support, did you?"
The artifact had activated.
That meant the rear support team would have seen the signal.
'Five minutes.'
Five minutes at most, and they would arrive.
He only had to hold out until then.
Barkan looked toward the remaining soldiers.
'Three of us. Four of them.'
They were not badly outnumbered.
Besides, he was the Deputy Platoon Leader of the Seventh Reconnaissance Unit.
He was no pushover who would fall easily to ordinary soldiers.
'This is enough.'
Five minutes.
He could easily last that long.
Shing— Barkan drew his sword.
The blade flashed in the lamplight.
"Don't imagine you'll leave here alive."
Barkan's sword naturally pointed toward Creed.
The strongest should face an opponent worthy of him.
Then the kid beside Creed spoke.
"Squad Leader."
As if he had no interest in the other soldiers, the kid stared only at Barkan.
"I'll kill him."
Barkan thought he had misheard.
No matter how he looked at him, that kid was no match for him.
'The recklessness of youth? This kid won't live long.'
Creed looked at the kid for a moment.
Apparently, he intended to tell the boy that he had picked the wrong opponent.
'That's right. I'm your opponent.'
Barkan leveled his sword at Creed once more.
But Creed nodded without concern.
"Yeah. You're the one who should kill him."
"......?"
Creed looked away and readjusted his grip on his sword.
"We'll cover you."
Barkan let out an incredulous laugh.
"What?"
Whether the kid had lost all sense of fear or not, his face remained expressionless from beginning to end.
Barkan's sword tip turned toward the kid.
"...You?"
Then, with his empty hand, he pointed at himself.
"......Me?"
It was absurd.
They were sending a wet-behind-the-ears kid against the Deputy Platoon Leader of the Seventh Reconnaissance Unit?
"......Ha."
A hollow laugh escaped him.
"I must look like quite a joke to you."
BOOM— Barkan kicked off the ground and charged.
***
Rohan's heart pounded.
It was not from nerves.
'My first battle.'
This was his first chance to properly use everything he had learned.
Barkan moved first.
BOOM—!
He closed the distance in an instant.
His sword surged upward from below.
CLANG—! Rohan raised his sword vertically and blocked.
His entire arm was violently forced back.
His body was flung backward with it.
After retreating a couple of steps, Rohan barely regained his balance.
His wrist tingled.
'He's strong.'
Far stronger than expected.
Because they were called a reconnaissance unit, Rohan had assumed they specialized in concealment and intelligence gathering.
But that was not the case.
They roamed the front lines and infiltrated deep into enemy territory.
More than anything.
'Noxis swordsmanship.'
Barkan's sword was neither fast nor flashy.
Instead, there was nothing superfluous about it.
Cut, thrust, block.
It felt as though he made excellent use of only a sword's essential purposes.
A sword designed to kill an opponent with the fewest possible movements.
It felt like swordsmanship honed on the battlefield.
"You're pretty good for a kid."
Barkan readjusted his grip on his sword.
"I didn't think you'd still be standing after taking my strike."
Instead of answering, Rohan surveyed his surroundings.
Swords clashed throughout the cramped house.
Creed swung his sword against two Noxis soldiers, while Johanna had completely locked down another's movements.
As for Kaisen...
"Come here!"
CRASH—!
Every swing of his sword made the house shake as if it might collapse.
'We have the numerical advantage.'
If they wanted, Creed or Kaisen could join him and pressure Barkan.
But neither did.
'On purpose.'
They appeared to have no intention of helping him.
'Do they want me to grow?'
The corners of Rohan's mouth rose.
'Then I should repay them.'
Rohan moved again.
SWISH— His one-handed sword went for Barkan's neck.
A simple horizontal slash.
Barkan raised his sword to block.
CLANG—! Just as expected.
Rohan's left hand moved.
The crescent sword curved upward from below.
SWISH—!
"Urgh!"
Barkan hurriedly leaned backward.
The blade scraped the edge of his armor.
SCREEECH— Sparks flew with the grating sound.
Barkan immediately brought his sword down.
The blade descended toward Rohan's head.
Rohan raised his one-handed sword vertically.
CLANG—! The impact traveled down to his shoulder.
'I'm being overpowered.'
Meeting Barkan head-on would put him at a disadvantage.
Rohan angled his sword.
Barkan's blade slid to the side.
SCRAAAAAPE—! At the same time, Rohan drove himself inside Barkan's reach.
The distance between them vanished in an instant.
"What......!"
He heard Barkan's startled voice.
They were too close.
It was difficult to swing a sword properly at this distance.
However.
'The crescent sword is different.'
Rohan's left hand turned.
The curved blade aimed for the inside of Barkan's elbow.
SLASH. His clothes split, and blood sprayed.
"You......!"
Barkan gritted his teeth.
***
'This is strange.'
Barkan steadied his sword.
At first, he had thought Rohan was just a child.
Merely a boy who knew how to handle a sword a little.
But.
CLANG—!
Sword struck sword.
Barkan's arm was knocked far back.
This was not because he lacked strength.
Somehow, the boy was turning Barkan's own strength against him.
"Urgh."
Rohan did not stop.
The instant the sword in his right hand knocked Barkan's blade away, the crescent sword in his left drove in at a bizarre angle.
SLASH! His side burned.
'It's Nakandiya swordsmanship.'
Barkan knew it too.
The tribe that made its home in the jungle.
They excelled at fighting while moving through cramped spaces.
Their distinctive crescent swords followed entirely different trajectories from ordinary swords.
'How is that bastard using it?'
There was no time to think.
Rohan pressed in again.
"Insolent brat!"
Barkan swung his sword in a wide arc.
WHOOSH—! It was not a blow a mere child could block head-on.
Like a fool, Rohan met the sword directly.
'Got him!'
Barkan thought he had seized the advantage.
But the instant their blades met, Barkan's sword slid to the side.
'He deflected it?'
Rohan had not blocked the force.
He had redirected the power of Barkan's swing to the side.
In an instant, Rohan slipped inside his reach.
THWACK—! A palm struck up into his chin.
"Urgh!"
His head snapped back.
At the same time, STAB—!
A burning sensation drove into his side.
"Argh!"
Barkan gritted his teeth.
The crescent sword. At some point, the tip of the weapon in Rohan's left hand had pierced between the plates of his armor.
'This is impossible.'
His breathing grew ragged.
Barkan glared at Rohan.
Rohan, on the other hand, was perfectly fine.
His expression showed not the slightest disruption in his breathing.
The boy wielded two swords in completely different ways.
'He's not one person.'
A strange thought entered Barkan's mind.
He was fighting one kid standing before him, yet...
Every time their swords met, it felt as if he faced someone different.
'Where in the world did he......?'
Barkan glanced around.
The situation had grown even worse.
"Aaargh!"
One of the soldiers collapsed.
The cold-looking woman flicked the blood from her sword.
On the other side.
"Aaargh!"
One soldier flew through a wall after being struck by Kaisen's greatsword.
They merely glanced toward this fight. None came to help.
'These bastards.......'
It felt as though they were using him as a training opponent.
Even more infuriating was that this child was making him feel powerless.
When the kid stepped closer, Barkan retreated without realizing it.
"Pathetic."
He heard the voice beside him but ignored it.
Then he heard signs of people outside.
Barkan's face brightened.
"They're here!"
THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD—!
Countless footsteps.
A shout erupted in front of the house immediately afterward.
CRASH—! Soldiers poured through the entrance where the door had been torn away.
In an instant, Noxis soldiers surrounded the inside and outside of the house.
There were more than twenty of them.
A smile spread across Barkan's face.
'It's done.'
He would live.
No.
'We've won.'
There were only four enemies.
No matter how strong they were, there was no way they could withstand more than twenty soldiers.
"Tsk. You brought plenty of small fry."
Kaisen ground his teeth.
"Damn it."
Creed also looked surprised.
He had never imagined so many enemies would converge on one of their own side's strongholds.
He did not think they would lose, but neither could he guarantee they would escape unscathed.
Creed spoke.
"Our forces should be on their way too. Can you handle them?"
"Haha....... I suppose you don't think this'll end quickly?"
Barkan grinned broadly.
The fear he had felt moments ago vanished as if it had been a lie.
He raised his sword.
"What are you doing?! Hurry up and kill them!"
Rumble.
Noxis soldiers flooded into the cramped house.
In an instant, more than twenty people filled the room.
Every possible escape route was blocked.
The soldiers formed a circular encirclement around the four of them.
Barkan smiled at the sight.
"It's over now. No matter what tricks you pull, you won't leave here alive."
Hearing that, Creed raised an eyebrow.
"How unsightly."
"What?"
"You were trembling in terror of one little kid a moment ago."
"Hahaha!"
Barkan threw back his head and laughed loudly.
"Unsightly? I admit it. But does dignity save your life on a battlefield?"
Barkan abruptly stopped laughing.
"In the end, the one who survives wins. You can keep that precious dignity in heaven."
That was when it happened.
"Overlay...... counter-rotation."
A quiet voice sounded.
Barkan's gaze shifted.
The voice belonged to the kid.
Rohan.
'What is he doing...?'
Before the thought could continue, Rohan raised his sword.
Creed's expression changed at that moment.
"Don't tell me?"
Rohan appeared not to hear him.
Then he stepped forward.
Condensed Explosion. He assumed the same stance Kaisen had taught him.
Calves, thighs, waist.
The force rose through them in sequence.
Then, the sword tip.
The entire process happened in an instant.
Rohan thrust his sword straight ahead.
'What's going to happen?'
Barkan tensed for a moment.
It felt as if something were bound to happen.
However.
—Fweee.......
A brief light flashed.
"......."
And nothing happened.
Silence lingered.
Barkan blinked.
Then, a moment later.
Pfft.
Laughter escaped from somewhere.
"Haha. Hahahaha!"
Barkan laughed loudly.
"I thought you were going to do something."
He shouted.
"Kill them!"
The soldiers moved.
Their swords descended toward the four in unison.
That was when it happened.
Crk.
"......?"
Cr-crk. Crk. Crrrrrk—
A strange sound came from somewhere.
It steadily grew louder.
At last.
SCREEEEEE!
A sound like thousands of tiny birds chirping at once rang through the house.
It was loud enough that the charging soldiers covered their ears and stopped moving.
"What......?"
Barkan looked toward the sound.
At the place where Rohan had thrust his sword moments before, a blue light like static electricity spread through the air.
And then.
"Get down—!"
Creed reacted first.
He forcibly pushed down Rohan's head.
At the same time, he pulled Johanna down by the shoulder.
Kaisen seemed to understand the situation and lowered himself as well.
"W-What?!"
The Noxis soldiers could not react.
None of them seemed to understand what was happening.
A bizarre sight unfolded before their eyes.
'What is that?'
The light floating along the sword's path converged on a single point.
The strange sound stopped abruptly.
And then.
FWEEEEEE—!
A blast of white noise erupted.
Then the entire world turned white.