25.

{Wilhelm's PoV}

Facing off with each other, Brutus and I, go way back, before I became a butler under the Blackwood Family.

Back when I was in the Royal Army, Brutus considers me his rival while I just wanted to sharpen my swordsmanship. I had no one to teach me the conventional swordsmanship so I am just swinging my sword recklessly without purpose but somehow, I get better and better as I train.

Brutus and I were of the same strength but slowly, the gap between our skills are growing apart from each other. Brutus would always challenge me and he would always lose. The fights were always close but as the gap becomes larger, it wasn't even a fight anymore.

I only heard from the soldiers later that Brutus left the camp without notice but I just continued on with my daily life. When the former Duke of Blackwood saved my granddaughter and served under him as the head butler, I fought against the invading western coalition army and there I found Brutus once more.

One more time, we crossed swords but this time, the stakes were higher. It was not just a simple duel anymore. I defeated Brutus by a large margin and was about to kill him when a bunch of 5th circle mages saved Brutus from his death. Now Brutus, once again, stands in my way.

"Here I come, Wilhelm!" Brutus roared as he jumped out of the siege ladder. I sent another swing at his way and the gust of air was blocked by Brutus easily.

"Hehe. I'm not the same as I was before Wilhelm." Brutus said but I just ignored him and rushed forward.

Brutus and I clashed with our swords. We exchanged blows as sparks were sent flying when our swords touched each other. Brutus kicked to make distance and I blocked it with my left arm.

"Looks like you got, weaker, Wilhelm. Did taking care of a brat made your blade lose its edge?" Brutus mocked me but I just ignored his mockery. I turned my head slightly and saw Aegis coming out of the siege ladder and jumping into the middle of the enemy soldiers. Seeing me distracted, Brutus was annoyed and rushed towards me, he covered his sword in aura.

"Where do you think you're looking at? You won't last long if you're looking distracted like that." Brutus said as his sword covered in aura struck.

"You don't understand." I raised my sword and blocked his attack.

"What...!?" Brutus was shocked to see me blocking his sword without using any aura at all.

I pushed his sword back with more force to make him stagger and lose his balance, I then swooped in and stabbed his heart. In a battle of experts, a second was enough for the opponent to kill you and vice versa.

"H...ow?" Brutus asked me, confused. He thought that he had already matched my strength and wanted to tie me down while the soldiers assault the walls and bring it down.

"I told you, you don't understand. The reason why I have time to be distracted is because you're not my match anymore. Take a closer look." I said and Brutus concentrated so hard and what he saw shocked him.

Brutus could see a faint aura surrounding my entire body.

"Sword saint? I've already passed that." Wilhelm said and twisted the blade.

"Haha... even if I die, that brat... will die here." Brutus said with a maniacal laugh before breathing his last breath.

"You guys from the west underestimated Aegis. You'll pay dearly for that." I said and looked at Aegis standing in front of the gates like a guardian. Holding his spear with blood splashed on his body.

'Looks like Aegis will make history at this war.' I thought as I looked at the soldiers being intimidated by a child.

'Hmm? What's with the surge of mana coming from the direction of the enemy army camp?' I thought as I felt a bad premonition and my face turned pale and did my best to rush to Aegis.

"Aegis!" I shouted at Aegis who seemed oblivious of the fact that he is in danger.

*

{Aegis 1st PoV}

I looked at Wilhelm running down the wall to rush towards me. Before I got the time to answer, I felt my alarm bells ringing at an alarming rate.

I used <8 Steps, 2nd step>, even if it will cause a toll on my lower body, and dodged to the side but I was still not fast enough. A sharp energy beam blasted the gate, the place where I used to position myself.

"Aegis!!" Wilhelm shouted as he ran as fast as he could to reach me.

Although I managed to save my life, my left hand all the way to my shoulders, was gone. It took me a few seconds before the pain managed to reach me. I clenched my teeth in pain as I removed my upper clothing and tore it down before wrapping it around my shoulders tightly. With my body control, I only managed to speed up the closing of the wound.

My face was pale because I was losing blood so quickly. Wilhelm quickly reached my spot and annihilated anyone who blocks his path.

"Aegis! Listen to me, go and retreat, leave this place to me." Wilhelm said but I shook my head.

"I can still fight. Its just an arm." I said to him. The surrounding soldiers took the chance to assault us and Wilhelm started engaging them.

'Damn it, my body's reaction speed reached its limits. If I was in my heyday, I could easily dodge that.' I thought to myself. I also couldn't use <Nullification> against that with my current power. The power contained in that energy beam outclassed mine. I sighed and didn't think about it anymore, instead, I tried to compile all of the information that I got from that energy beam.

'Damn it, I thought that the Empire created the magic gun, or... maybe they didn't create it but with the help of the magic tower, they managed to perfect it. Although you could barely call the one used by the Western Coalition earlier, a magic gun. I think its in the early stage of development. That heat scared the hell out of me. That heat can't be handled unless they used blankšum metal to reinforce the magic gun's body. It won't destroy the magic gun but the heat would render it unusable for at least an hour? As for the gunner, I think that he or she is a 5th circle mage based on the destruction that it caused.' I organized the information as fast as I could since the enemy soldiers were pumped after seeing that show of power.

With the gate gone, the archers and mages occupied, they decided to launch an all out attack to take us out quickly. Their troops ran forward but this time, their mages followed them forward.

"Uncle Wilhelm." I called out to him and he returned to my side.

"We need to destroy that thing as soon as possible. Its a threat we need to eliminate quickly." I said to him. The enemy soldiers around us kept their distance. Seeing then wary, I told Wilhelm all the info I got from that blast earlier.

"Uncle, let's take that thing down." I said to Wilhelm as we cleared the soldiers who tried to pass through the gates.

"No! Let me do it. Its too dangerous for you to go there!" Wilhelm shouted as he sent a slash towards the soldiers. Screams were reverberating as the pikemen inside the walls watched Wilhelm stop all those soldiers.

"I can handle it! I'm not weak you know?! Its just an arm, I can fight just fine." I argued to Wilhelm.

"No, its better for you to stay and let me take it down." Wilhelm then made a beeline towards the enemy camp all by himself, harvesting the lives of those who tried to block his way.

Seeing Wilhelm rush towards the enemy camp, I cursed at the current limit of my strength. I hate to admit it but if I meet a 5th circle mage, or if unlucky, a 6th circle mage, I'm toast. If I ever meet a master who can use aura blade, I'm f*cked. Left with one arm, I will only be a burden to him and hold him back as he will do his best to protect me and not to focus on the objective.

What's more, if I leave this place, no one is going to give commands leaving it open for attacks.

'Can't I help somehow? It might be easy to go in, but what about getting out? Uncle Wilhelm might not be able to make it out alive. F*ck!' I screamed internally. My body that I trained so hard under pressure is now my current nemesis. I also can't use the techniques that I have in my past run because of the toll it would cause in my body.

With Wilhelm gone to go deep into the enemy camp, I stood up and returned to my post in front of the destroyed gate. The pikemen saw my condition and tried to run towards me and bring me back but I just brandished my spear to the side to stop them.

I can't help but laugh at my current situation. I was at the peak of my power in the past run and enemy mages will run at the sight of me. But now? My left arm got obliterated, and the enemy soldiers trying to force their way in.

In the past run, I didn't participate in this war. I evacuated to the manor back in the Royal Capital. I was only a weakling at that time. I can't even wield the sword properly, maybe he even traded our resources so that the nobles would come and help us that's why my territory was stripped bare when I took it over.

This was the second time that I took the matters in my own hands and changed the future.

With my current strength, it is advisable for me to retreat and let the soldiers come inside and duke it out there.

With that in my mind, I can't help but remember one of the coolest guys in that anime that I subconsciously murmured his usual phrase when he's in a pinch.

"Right here, right now... I'm going to surpass my limits!" My voice started to regain its confidence as I tried to surpass my current limits. I squeezed out my useless mana inside my body and fused it with the fire elemental mana in the air.

"I'd be a weak ruler in their eyes if I can't even do that in front of my soldiers! <Inferno>!" A huge fireball appeared in front of the spearhead of Vasavi Shakti and it was thrown into the middle of the enemy soldiers. The fireball burned the enemies for a few seconds before it exploded.

<Inferno> is an offensive fire magic that can be casted by a 3rd circle mage. I'm just a 2nd circle mage but by squeezing my useless mana dry, I managed to cast it by the skin of my teeth.

I was panting so hard to calm my breath. My eyes were fuzzy and I was about to go back to take a rest for a few minutes before going back to the battle when something caught me off-guard.

The tattoo in my right hand started shining and Vasavi Shakti started vibrating.

My whole body got shocked by the lightning that got transmitted by the spear. My body felt refreshed and I didn't feel tired at all. As if my exhaustion was a joke, my body that was squeezed out of mana suddenly got filled to the brim with mana.

'I thought that by fighting wholeheartedly, I could make Vasavi Shakti acknowledge me. It turns out that only by surpassing my limits will the weapon of the God acknowledge me.' I thought for a moment as my body got transformed from the inside with the help of the lightning unleashed by Vasavi Shakti.

'Oh. I see! If I remember correctly, Lucifer said he modified it for my personal use. No wonder such a simple method allowed me to be acknowledged by the spear of light. Gae bulg acknowledging me was quite hard because I must have the heart to solely focus on the spear before it will acknowledge me.' I thought as I enjoyed the feeling of rebirth provided by Vasavi Shakti.

After getting out of my thoughts, red lightning started flashing around my body. After the lightning transformed my body, I could sense that my reaction speed was faster than it was and my thinking speed was even faster. The flexibility of my muscles was also strengthened.

The pikemen looked at me in awe while the enemy soldiers, looked at me warily.

"Come, I need some test subjects to test my current power." I said as I provoked them to come and fight me.

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Don't worry, MC won't be handicapped for the rest of the novel. Healing magic is a thing y'know?