"There's a fight in front of us! It must be the survivors of the fourth camp! Let's hurry!"
Severin and others felt the mana fluctuations ahead of them.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
As they got closer, the sound of clashing swords and shields can be heard noticeably.
Everyone got ready as they pulled up their weapons…
Suddenly, one of the people ahead recognized them and shouted with delight!
"They're here! Reinforcements are here! Help!"
"Hahaha! We survived! Look! They're from the Zemin Clan! Ahh, even the Jung Clan is here!"
"Just hold on a little bit more! We'll be saved!"
The soldiers fighting against the rebels were already exhausted mentally and physically. It wasn't easy getting chased by these vicious people who had no thoughts of taking them as a prisoner and only want them dead.
Furthermore, they have not expected to fight them here as their weapons were meant to fight against the Barbarians instead of fellow Mana Arts Practitioners.
There were over 30 of them who had used this path to escape and about 50 rebels managed to chase them here.
There were previously over 50 of them as well but they, unfortunately, died as they fled from the Master Magicians who had ambushed them.
"Kill the rebels! Do not let anyone escape!" Florent, the young leader of the Jung Clan, shouted as he saw the precarious situation of the remnants of the city guards…
That's right, he easily recognized that these people are wearing the armor of the Arms City Defense Force or just known as City Guards.
They were normally stationed all around the city to control the number of the Savage Beasts and to clean up the nearby dungeons from time to time.
Since they have incredible expertise in field battle, they were also called to fight against the Barbarians.
"Water Prison…"
Florent, who normally uses the fire element, decided to use the weakest water element to control the enemies.
It is simply because they are still in the woods and using fire would create more trouble than resolution.
Seeing this, the other Master Magicians did the same and used a non-destructive element to control the battle.
Of course, it wasn't enough to do this as the enemies are also Master Magicians with sufficient skills.
But this was enough to delay them from annihilating the city guards…
As soon as they were in range, the Knights swiftly made their move and engaged in close combat.
They can't waste too much time and energy in this battle… The members of the Jung Clan and Zemin Clan are not here yet after all.
"I will join the fight, Severin…" Vincent said as Severin halted his horse to let Vincent down.
Severin wasn't too worried about Vincent anymore after learning about his skills. He just gave a knowing smile as he looked at Vincent's black cane and silver dagger on his waist.
Although he can tell that his leather armor and other accessories were precious too, these two weapons are truly giving him a different vibe. He wouldn't be surprised if they are Unique Rank or above at all.
Shrouded Steps…
With the improvement of this Tier 1 Mana Art, Vincent had easily gotten close to the rebels.
This time, he didn't just rush in as he coordinated with the people from the two Clans. Anyway, it's easy to find the enemies since they are wearing red scarfs indicating that they are part of the rebel army. There wouldn't be any confusion whatsoever thanks to that.
Well, since the rebels came from various clans and sects or organizations sympathizing with the Grand Knight France, they probably really need that indicator even more.
This time, instead of using the superiority of his Cane's Crush Attribute, he decided to familiarize himself with his combat techniques.
He found a man wearing bronze armor who was about to kill one of the city guards. The latter was injured and leaning on a tree as he gritted his teeth. There is still a trace of hope in his eyes thinking that he could still be saved at this moment.
Well, he was lucky as Vincent arrived on time.
Bam!
Vincent used the dagger to parry the blade used by the rebel.
Clank!
However, because of its pierce attribute, the enemy's blade was almost cut in half! If the man did not stop, his blade would surely be cut into two, and Vincent's dagger would go straight to his face!
"W-what is that?! Who are you?!" The man shouted in surprise as he analyzed Vincent carefully.
He didn't feel Vincent's presence until he appeared! Furthermore, he barely felt any Mana Fluctuation from him so he guessed that he's not a strong Mana Practitioner and most likely relying on various Magic Tools.
"Do I need to answer that? You're going to die anyway…" Vincent confidently proclaimed as he stepped forward and used his Surging Palm Strike!
Boom!
He already decided to just put his cane on his back so he could use his Dagger and Mana Arts in battle instead.
Finally, he could see the might of his Mana Art powered by his Pseudo Celestial Energy!
Bang!
The man was thrown to another tree but he didn't die yet. Instead, his armor was shattered into pieces as he spat a mouthful of blood.
"How dare you! You won't have an easy death!" With all his might, he pounced at Vincent as his almost broken blade was covered with fiery energy!
He acted as though he could cut anything that blocks him!
"Alright… Let's see the improvement of this other skill…" Vincent excitedly used his Shrouded Steps as he avoided the man from cutting him in half.
Although this person has a movement technique as well, it doesn't seem to be as agile as his Perfected Shrouded Steps. It seems that it was just a simple dash movement on a straight line.
Nevertheless, the man wasn't too worried about Vincent's slippery movement as he was still a blade master! No matter how agile Vincent was, as long as he remains within his blade's range, he wouldn't be able to escape!
Clang! Clang!
Vincent parried again using his silver dagger as he was unable to dodge for a moment. However, he decided to coat his dagger with his Aura to give a blunt effect on the extremely sharp dagger.
It was not because he wanted to protect the blade but he wanted to surprise the man…
As expected, after the third strike, Vincent decided to parry again and this time, he cut the blade into two! It gave the man a surprise!
This allowed Vincent to get closer to him and used his other skill.
"Mana Drain…"
This ability was from the suspected cult of the past.
Since it's only a Tier 1 ability, it was quite weak and could be canceled by using a simple Mana Armor or Shield… Even interrupting the user is probably a lot easier.
In short, this ability only works against sleeping or unconscious victim. As long as you're awake, you can cancel it without breaking a sweat.
However, it might be different now…
Whom~
Suddenly, Vincent felt a surge of mana being sucked into his body! The mana was channeled from the palm that he used as it went to his core.
"I can feel it… It works…"
As it went into his Synthetic Celestial Core, it barely filled him up. It was a little amount but it's still successful!
The man had even converged a stronger mana shield and armor but the Mana Drain remained active! It had gotten stronger!
"Y-you! Who are you?! You're a devil! Help! This devil is---" Before he could finish, Vincent decided to kill this man by slashing at his throat.
"How dare you call me devil…" Vincent said as he frowned for a moment. He then looked at his body and realized that his armor got splattered with the man's blood.
Anyway, he continued sucking his mana since he just lost his life and his mana core hasn't dissipated yet.
After confirming that he only needed over 10 seconds to drain the target's mana, Vincent then swiftly helped in the fight and killed two more rebels before the battle was over…
Since they are in a hurry, Lady Yulia fully utilized her Mystic Eye's abilities that seem to be related to Darkness or Shadow Element. On the other hand, Florent
Florent and Romain then interrogated the City Guards. After a while, they confirmed the situation ahead as they realized how terrible the situation was.
"Those foolish Vice Generals! How did they even fall into such an obvious trap?! Useless!"
Lady Yulia couldn't help but curse at them as the young genius of their clan might be in danger. She didn't really care if all the Blue Storm Amy or the City Guards die in there as long as Lesley survives.
Without wasting any more time, they continued moving on their path to find Lesley's group.
After several minutes, they finally found traces of them!
"Found them! Let's hurry! They are in danger!"
Romain shouted in horror as he recognized Joran's mana fluctuation as well. However, there was no time to let them know about his presence, and could only urge them to hurry.