16 Chapter 16: The might of a Supreme Warrior

The man walked quietly, as if he was in his own garden and not in front of a whole army. The tall buildings were surrounding him as he was crossing the outer parts of the city, in the middle of the main road.

Rohan frowned. Something was wrong with this man, but he couldn't point out what was bothering him. He turned his head and looked at General Edwin who was standing a few yards behind him. His eyebrows were also furrowed.

Suddenly his eyes widened, and his face paled as if he had seen a dead man come back to life.

Rohan turned to the old man, just in time to see the one draw his sword.

There was something surprising in seeing an old man draw his sword as he walked towards an army of almost ten thousand soldiers, including a thousand warriors. If it was another person, in another time, it was definitely something that would make more than one laugh.

But no one was even grinning.

An ultimate silence was wrapping up the ranks. No one even dared to move, all eyes fixed on this single man. Only the wind passing through the men could be heard, and even the horses, usually restless, were not making a single noise.

But another thing was reverberating, like a giant bell, in the mind of every soldier: the sound of footsteps coming from a few hundred meters away. Steady. Powerful.

Rohan's eyes were fixed on this man. He didn't dare to look away. It was a feeling he had never experienced before. Even when he had charged on his horse towards the enemy troops for the first time, he hadn't felt such a thing.

Fear. A terror that took him by the guts, and cruched his whole being by the impending doom, and made his heart beat faster and faster, until the thunderous beating of it was the only thing he heard.

If he looked away, if he moved, if he tried to run away, then he would die. That was what his instincts screamed at him.

The monster in human form continued to approach at its own pace.

Suddenly their eyes met. Rohan thought he saw hell in those eyes, his body trembling without his being able to do anything about it. He felt himself leaving. He knew that if he kept looking at him, he would be unable to fight for his own life. But there was nothing he could do. Blood came out of his mouth, as if his whole body was crushed.

"SOLDIERS !! DRAW YOUR SWORDS, BRING OUT YOUR SHIELDS. FIGHT FOR YOUR LIVES!"

A voice erupted all around him, like the roar of thunder.

His mind returned to him, and he shook his head. The soldiers also came to themselves.

Rohan looked behind him. It was Edwin who had awakened them using his Aura, an ability that only advanced warriors could use.

Although the army was awake, his expression did not change.

They were finished. All. Whether they were running away or fighting, they were all going to die.

Orders reverberated right and left as the soldiers unsheathed their weapons and stared in terror at the man who was still advancing step by step.

A rider arrived near Rohan and as he aprochaoched, the soldiers around him made a passage while saluting their commander. He took up a position beside him.

"Rohan! Are you alright ?" Concern could be heard in his voice when he saw the blood on his chin.

"Father? Who is this man? What's going on?" Rohan, losing his cool, couldn't restrain himself and asked this question. Who the hell was this old man ?

"We don't care Rohan, you have to get away from this battlefield now!"

"How? What are..."

"Don't interrupt me!" His powerful hand was resting on Rohan's shoulder as he looked straight into the eyes of his son. "If you can make it out, flee to another kingdom, Rohan ! Do you hear me ? Forget what's going to happen, just live your life!"

"What are you talking about ?" Rohan was yelling back at the insane words his father was saying. But Roland kept ignoring his son.

"There is, however, one request that I have, son, which you have an obligation to keep. After saving yourself, you will have the duty to come back to the duchy to protect your brother and your mother. Is that clear Rohan ? The family is before everything !"

He turned to the approaching old man, now only a few dozen meters from the front line, arrows were shot at him from the rear but he didn't even bother to defend himself.

The arrows stopped before they could do any damage and fell to the ground, inert, as if an invisible wall was in front of him.

"Rohan, I am an intermediate warrior. He has without a doubt already locked my presence. But you are just a little warrior among so many others, you have a chance to escape, so take it Rohan! For the name of God, Rohan, this is an order from your commander. Leave this fucking place !"

The count seemed to be practically in despair, he just wanted to send his son as far as possible. The man in front of them was not an opponent the Duchy of Barnes could beat.

Nearby, General Edwin was blaring orders. He was starting to have a breakdown. Why was this man here? It didn't make sense!

Mardrick, next to him, decided to not run away. What would be the point ? He was only an intermediate mage. He could only fly for a while, but he couldn't travel far enough and put enough distance between himself and this monster. So he decided to fight, even if he didn't stand a chance.

It was at this moment that Rohan, before being able to answer his father, saw a scene that will remain in his memory forever.

The old man, now a dozen meters from the first soldiers, made a light flick with his sword. Bright red flammes appeared and engulfed the blade he was holding. Then, with a simple gesture, he chopped at the void before him, as if he was hunting a simple mosquito.

And then hell descended to earth.

A gigantic wave of flame crashed against the soldiers who had raised their shields.

Howls of pain and terror echoed across the plain. The shields turned to ashes, the swords began to melt and the armor slipped to the skins in a terrifying heat.

Panic engulfed each of the soldiers, as no one else looked to fight.

In a single blow, with a simple swing from right to left, this man had reduced to ashes several hundred soldiers, maybe even a thousand of them had perished here and now.

A total rout ensued. Everyone was fleeing in all directions, trying to put as much distance as possible between them and this man. There was no commandement left. Edwin knew it was the end, so he gave the order to every soldier.

"Scatter ! Everyone ! Get the fuck out of here !" Internally, he was thinking that maybe, some of them would be able to flee. After all, even if he was powerful, he was still only one man.

As Rohan had his eyes locked on this scene, his father shook him

"ROHAN!"

He turned a blanked face towards his father, who looked at him with an expression more serious than ever. Rohan decided to ask him his question again. He had already figured out who he was, of course. How could he not? Only one individual fit this description in the entire empire. But he wanted to hear it with his own ears.

"Father ... Who is this man?"

"The most powerful man in the empire, Rohan. The only supreme warrior, the Old Monster of the empire, Barkley Elyria." His voice was deep. That man was the protector of the empire of Elyria, and no one from the tiny place was expecting this legend to come here.

He turned to the captain and his son's guards.

"Captain, escort my son, flee and fuck off from here, do you understand?"

"Yes, count! I will use my life and the lives of my men to defend the young master. Young master, we have to go."

Before this war, Rohan had always prided himself on being a calm person, who could make the most logical decisions no matter what. But his head, right now, was spinning, the situation having exploded in just a few minutes and left him completely lost.

He looked his father in the eyes. Rohan had always had a strange relationship with his family. His father had never really taken care of him. His mother had forgotten his very existence. And his brother only saw him a few weeks a year at most.

Yet he didn't really hold it against his father, everyone made their choices, and sometimes those choices just happen to be limited to one possibility.

The eyes of the man in front of him were firm. A resolution that very few men could have in their life. Rohan stifled the tears that began to flow, turned around to face his horse and fled at full speed with the captain and his guard.

Roland was certain at that time that he was going to die, so he would not try to flee. His life will end today, he knew it. He also knew that despite what he told Rohan, his son's chances of surviving were very slim. But it didn't matter. He will occupy the general. It will waste his time, even if it would only be a few seconds.

He looked away from his child, and looked at the monster that was wiping out hundreds and hundreds of lives.

"SOLDIERS."

Around him were a troop of cavalry composed entirely of warriors. It was his personal guard. Those who had fought with him against the gobelins for many years before. All of them were Beginner Warriors. And all of them were ready to sacrifice their life, with that of their master.

He drew his sword, and as each of the warriors followed suit, pointed it at Barkley.

"FOR THE DUCHY !"

With these words they charged straight towards the enemy, a strong cavalry with dozens of Warriors. The charge shook the ground as their war cries echoed through the field of flame.

Further on, the mage Mardrick began to point his hand toward the enemy and used his mana to hurl ice javelins and wind blades at the flame demon. He used all his mana without restraining anything. He was already a dead man walking anyway, there was no point at being stingy.

Beside him, a man drew his sword and rushed towards the enemy with an absurd speed. General Edwin, the most powerful man in the duchy, had to attack with all his might, and gain as much time as possible to allow his men to flee.

"FOR OUR FAMILIES !"

As the cavalry charge came to Barkley's level, the latter stepped aside to dodge an ice javelin as he let his mana shield take the dozens of wind blades the wizard threw at him. Then locking his eyes toward the man, he flipped the air with his sword, and a red scorching mana wave appeared, destroying everything before hitting the wizard.

Edwin appeared at his side at this time using Charge and followed up by using a large chunk of his mana to cover his sword with it. He ended by using all his mana to control his aura, compacted it in around his blade and struck forward before blowing it up with Mana Blast.

A dreadful impact exploded as Barkley used his own blow to encounter Edwin's attack. Even the earth was trembling from this strike. Flames were dancing everywhere, and the hair of Edwin was beginning to ignite, before his whole being was engulfed by the inferno.

The riders came to the target and each struck with all their might with Strengthened Blow as Roland leaped forward from his horse on impact to strike with a Mana Blast.

"For my son."

These last whispers echoed in this scorched land, before vanishing alongside everything else.