Ancient Rune Mastery

"Keep attacking! He is getting tired!" Zaru, the vice commander of the 2nd swordsman unit, shouted.

The pillar of light was still standing.

Zaru took command of the battlefield after the communication with the 1st swordsman unit and 1st mage unit disappeared.

"Swordsmen take the front! Mages spread out and keep firing spells!"

Dozens of elite swordsmen attacked. They were renowned warriors of Nelio. Sparks flew into the air as they countered Noah's swings, albeit barely.

Then the dreaded moment came.

"Inverse Sage Heal"

The swordsmen fell like a doll with their strings cut. Only those who didn't have a scratch remained alive.

"Don't stop! This is our chance!"

Another massive wave of soldiers attacked when Noah's Sage Heal entered cooldown.

'This is it! We can tire him out and win!' Zaru thought.

He repeated the same strategy. Many soldiers died. However, it was an inevitable sacrifice. It was to defeat Noah.

It was to…

"Wh-why are you still standing?" Zaru asked in a shaky voice.

No matter how many soldiers sacrificed their lives, they couldn't bring Noah down. It was as if Noah was improving with each passing moment on the battlefield.

"There is no end to them," Noah muttered and stood in front of the dazed Zaru.

Noah was focusing on eliminating the commanders and vice commanders to disrupt their command chain.

If not, Noah would end up wasting his time on defeating the endless soldiers.

Despair flooded Zaru's eyes. They could do nothing but die at the hands of the monster standing in front of him. Zaru closed his eyes, waiting for the sword to end his life.

However, the pain never arrived.

"Shit." A curse escaped Noah's lips.

Three border walls surrounded Nelio at increasing distances from the center castle. Noah was inside the ring formed by the first border wall at this moment when he saw…

"Thanks to everyone who sacrificed their lives. The murderer Noah can't escape anymore," A feminine voice echoed through the first layer of the wall.

"Calling me a murderer when they're the ones who attacked first."

Three transparent domes were covering the sky.

{They're rune barriers. So, the three border walls had such a function.} Hepius added gravely.

{Brat, run. If those barriers completely cover the city, you can forget about escaping. Forget about 3 hours, you don't even have 30 minutes!}

"You're talking norma—"

{Stop gawking like an idiot! Run!} Hepius shouted.

Noah nodded and used Gravity Manipulation to lighten himself.

[ Your weight has decreased. Movement Speed +20% ]

Bam!

Noah kicked the ground and bolted towards the border wall.

"Attack him! The rune barriers ar—!?"

"Follow the pillar of li—!?"

"Spread out—!?"

Slash!

{Are you okay?} Saintess asked as Noah continued to run without rest. He cut mages with a single slash and eliminated swordsmen with spells.

"I am, thanks to your help."

[ You have regained 2000 SP through Inverse Gift of Benevolent ]

[ You have sacrificed 1000 SP and gained 10 Divinity through I Am Tired ]

[ You have regai… ]

[ You have sac… ]

[ You… ]

[ … ]

A flux of messages appeared in the corner of Noah's vision. His head felt like it would burst.

Noah was using Detect, Battle Concentration, Gift of Benevolent, I Am Tired, Genius Psychopath, Gravity Manipulation, Sage Heal and many other skills continuously while maintaining his vigilance for hidden enemies.

The burden was chipping on his mind. Noah could endure the mental exhaustion. What was really harming was his hunger. Blood Hunger.

Noah didn't ingest a drop of blood for the past weeks and today he was fighting on a blood-soaked battlefield.

The smell of blood was driving him insane.

Noah nabbed a soldier and knocked him out to drink his blood. He threw the soldier away in the next instant.

"It isn't working."

The blood of these soldiers was like a 1-week old pizza. It wasn't quenching his thirst either.

Noah suppressed his hunger forcefully and bolted in the direction of the border walls.

[ Level 65… ]

[ Leve… ]

[ Le… ]

[ … ]

[ … ]

[ … ]

"Huff! Huff! Is this a city or a maze?"

Noah stopped counting when the numbers reached three digits. It didn't seem the number of soldiers blocking was decreasing.

The rune barriers were about 90% complete. Only a small gap remained open in the sky and it was being closed too.

Saintess interjected, {Are you perhaps… bad with directions?}

"..."

Hepius gave a nasty stare to Noah. He didn't know whether to laugh or beat the shit out of Noah for coming back to the same plaza 5 times. How was he confusing left and right!?

Noah was about to stand when the tile below his feet sunk and a subtle change occurred in his surroundings.

[ Stealth Rune Disabled ]

[ Ancient Rune Mastery +1 ]

The plaza was suddenly filled with almost a hundred soldiers glaring at Noah. In the back, he saw two giant soldiers covering a small tower. The tower was closed and only two floors tall. A robed mage stood atop the tower.

[ ???'s Rune Pagoda ]

For a few moments, both sides gawked at each other.

Cecilia's innocent thoughts broke the silence. {I get it! Priest Noah had been scouting this place since earlier. I apologize for calling you directionally challenged.}

"...he found us. Attack!"

"Protect the rune barrier control tower!"

Noah suppressed the rising embarrassment. He could die from embarrassment later.

"Let there be light."

[ Casting Skill 'Let there be light' ]

[ Consume 35 Skill Points for Word Counter(Tier 1, Lv.5) → Word Counter(Tier 1, Lv.6) ?]

Noah cast multiple spells and followed with Gravity Manipulation, flingling pieces of rubble into the air.

"Run!"

"Dodge the wreckag–!?"

Slash!

Noah didn't let the enemy complete their chain of commands and eliminated the leaders first.

Chaos erupted. The plaza had been hidden with a stealth rune and filled with soldiers to the brim to protect the rune barrier control tower.

When the stealth disappeared, the hoarded soldiers became helpless lambs against AOE Sage Heal.

[ Lv.90 (HP: 110,000/110,000) ] [ Lv.90 (HP:120,000/120,000) ]

The two soldiers guarding the tower were taller than 10 meters, making Noah doubt if they were even humans.

Noah jumped over air platforms and ran straight for the barrier control tower.

Slash!

[ -100 HP ]

His sword failed to cut through their thick flesh. Noah jumped over their massive halberd and held the head of one of them.

"Inverse Resurrection"

[ –110,000 HP ]

[ Level 90 Heavy Warrior slayed ]

[ Word Counter activated. Remaining Uses: 2. Sage Resurrection Cooldown has ended. ]

[ Casting Sage Resurrection. Time until Completion: 3 minutes ]

Noah kited until the casting ended and eliminated the other heavy warrior.

[ Level 90 He… ]

Clink! Clank!

"He killed the Jura Brothers easily…? The strongest warriors second only to Achilles?"

"We can't kill that monster…"

"Run… Run for your life! He isn't a human!"

The soldiers dropped their weapons and ran away in dread. Noah, who was almost completely drenched in blood, ignored those who ran away and focused on the control tower.

The Runesmith – the mage controlling the rune tower – disappeared in the chaos, leaving Noah to handle it.

Hepius spoke, {This isn't a simple rune tower. How did they get their hands on it?}

[ Ancient Rune Mastery activated ]

[ Deciphering the runes ]

[ Basic Protection Rune deciphered ]

[ Basic Defense Rune deci… ]

[ Basic Mana Circuit R… ]

[ Basic… ]

Noah's eyes burned when he saw the rune on the wall of the tower. He recalled 'Ancient Rune Mastery' was one of the abilities he gained with his class, wondering if it had to do something with his current situation.

Just as Noah was hoping he could disable the barrier, an arrow flew toward the back of his head.

Noah grabbed the arrow without breaking a sweat. He noticed a note at the arrow end.

— Destroying the rune tower will disable the barrier. It was my job but it seems you beat me to it. Regards, Shadow

"The barrier will disappear with this?" Noah asked suspiciously. He couldn't trust the words on the note.

The rune barriers had activated fully while Noah was fighting the Lvl.90 brothers. Noah didn't want to risk capture by breaking the rune tower irresponsibly.

"Wait, that should work!"

An idea sparked in Noah's mind.

Noah took out the 'Training Chamber' and activated it. He appeared inside the training space followed by the gradual rise of his lips.

"It works."

The rune tower was erected next to Noah. Just like the time with his items, the Training Chamber functioned as an inventory!

Noah left the training chamber.

The rune barriers and pillar of light marking his location had disappeared. Noah also noticed the lack of soldiers chasing him.

"Every soldier ran away, huh? They either don't love their country or—!?"

A powerful force hit Noah's abdomen.

BAAAAAMMMMMM!!!

Noah's body shot back and crashed into a building. Before Noah could collect his thoughts, another strike smashed him.

He broke through several houses and hit the castle on top of the hill.

Achilles stood at the foot of the hill. A silver aura covered him and smoke rose from his fist.

"All soldiers have retreated beyond the 2nd border wall!" Zaru, the vice commander of the 2nd swordsman unit, reported.

Achilles nodded with an absent-minded look.

"He blocked it?"

Achilles was staring at his fist, wondering how Noah could block that surprise attack, when Zaru pointed at his armor.

"Achilles, when was your armor damaged?"

A vertical cut was running across Achilles' chest armor.

The atmosphere around Achilles shifted. He warned Zaru, "Stand back."

Achilles pulled his bow and stretched its string. An arrow formed out of mana and nine magic circles lined at the tip of the arrow.

"Condense"

The space crackled as the magic circles overlapped, creating a more powerful spell.

Zaru recognized the arrow and shouted, "Wait! If you use tha—"

BOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!

Achilles released the string. A streak of silver drew in the sky and half of the castle disappeared in the next instant.