The carriage jerked violently, throwing the commander forward. He caught himself with one hand, his face twisting in anger.
"What the hell was that?" he snapped.
Outside, startled voices rose among the soldiers.
"Something's blocking the road!"
"Check it out!"
The commander got more annoyed. He turned to Aiah, touching her cheek mockingly.
"Don't go anywhere," he said with a smirk.
Aiah flinched at his touch, but she refused to show fear.
The commander straightened and opened the carriage door. The cold night air greeted him. Torches flickered, revealing his tense men.
A large tree had fallen across the road.
"Where did this come from?" one soldier asked.
Another looked closely. "This wasn't here before. It's fresh... the leaves are still green."
The commander's expression darkened. "Someone did this on purpose."
He felt something was wrong.
"Stay alert," he ordered. "Check the surroundings."
The soldiers drew their weapons, eyes scanning the dark forest. Some moved forward cautiously, checking the tree.
Then…
A shadow moved.
It was fast, barely visible, but the torchlight caught a glimpse of it... something shifting between the trees.
A soldier turned, alarmed. "Did you see that...?"
He never finished his sentence.
A blade whistled through the air.
Shhk!
A head rolled onto the ground, blood spraying across the dirt. The body collapsed before the others could react.
Silence.
Then…
"AMBUSH!"
Swords were drawn. Soldiers rushed into formation.
The commander's eyes narrowed as he scanned the darkness. "Who dares...?"
Footsteps.
Slow. Steady.
Then the firelight caught him.
A tall figure stepped out from the trees, an axe resting on his shoulder. His clothes were stained with dirt and blood from the raid at the camp. His dark eyes gleamed with something cold, something inhuman.
Isaac.
The commander's eyes widened slightly in surprise before amusement flickered in them.
"You?" He laughed. "Alone?"
Isaac didn't answer. He simply rolled his shoulders, adjusting his grip on the axe.
Aiah, still inside the carriage, overheard the words. She shifted, pressing her head against the wooden bars of the small window, trying to see. When she caught sight of him, her stomach twisted.
"That class-E guy? Did he really think he could take on a whole group of soldiers alone? He wasn't even fully healed. He was going to get himself killed!" she sighed.
Then a group of soldiers charged.
Isaac moved. Faster than they expected.
Swsh!
The axe cut through the first soldier like paper, splitting him from shoulder to chest. Blood sprayed as Isaac twisted his body, swinging again.
The second man barely had time to scream before his head flew off.
The others froze in shock while the commander's smirk disappeared.
Isaac turned to the remaining men, his eyes glowing faintly in the dark.
"Your turn."
Chaos erupted.
Soldiers lunged at him, but Isaac was faster. His axe tore through their defenses with brutal force. Every swing meant death, bones shattered, arms flew, screams filled the air.
The captives, still tied up, watched in stunned silence.
Elder Peter, sitting among them, narrowed his eyes. His face was unreadable, but a smirk tugged at his lips.
"Let's see what you've got, Isaac."
The commander clenched his teeth as he watched his men fall.
"Enough of this!" he shouted. "Surround him! Overwhelm him!"
More soldiers rushed in.
Isaac exhaled, gripping his axe tighter.
His eyes scanned the group, counting them. Twenty men. Armed. Trained.
"Kill him."
At the commander's command, the first soldier lunged. A man in his late thirties, his leather armor worn from years of battle. His sword flashed under the torchlight as he swung.
Isaac moved.
Not with panic. Not with hesitation. With instinct.
His body shifted naturally, his axe rising at the perfect angle. The steel edge met flesh.
Shhk!
The axe buried deep into the soldier's neck.
Isaac felt it… the way the blade tore through skin, muscle, and bone. A spray of warmth hit his face. The soldier's eyes widened in shock, a gurgling sound escaping his throat.
Isaac pulled back.
The man collapsed, twitching as blood poured from his torn throat. His hands trembled as he tried to stop the bleeding, but it was useless.
Isaac watched him die.
A strange feeling crept into his chest.
His hands should have been shaking. His stomach should have turned. He should have felt horror, regret… anything.
But instead…
Excitement.
His heart pounded, not with fear, but with something else. His fingers curled tighter around the axe handle. His breathing slowed, controlled.
Like he had done this before.
Like he had missed this.
The rush. The sensation of warm blood spraying across his skin. The way the axe cut so smoothly, as if the blade belonged in his hands.
It felt right.
A voice whispered at the edge of his mind.
More.
The second soldier charged, letting out a battle cry.
Isaac barely thought. His body reacted on its own.
He ducked low, stepping to the side. The soldier's sword missed.
Isaac swung his axe upward…
The blade hooked under the man's jaw. With a vicious yank, he ripped the head clean off.
Blood arced through the air, splattering across the dirt road. The head rolled, mouth still open in a silent scream.
Silence.
The other soldiers hesitated, staring in horror.
Isaac exhaled slowly, feeling the warmth of the blood dripping from his weapon.
His lips twitched.
A smile.
The realization settled in. Killing felt... good.
A presence stirred within him. Do not stop.
Isaac's grip tightened on the axe.
He wouldn't.
The other soldiers snapped out of their shock.
"Kill him!"
They rushed forward.
Isaac's smile widened.
Eighteen soldiers remained. They roared as they charged, a wave of steel and fury.
Isaac exhaled.
A strange sensation pulsed through his veins… cold and scorching at the same time. His fingers trembled for a moment, then…
[Skill Unlocked: Reaper's Spiral]
Vwoom.
A faint bluish glow erupted across his arms, his veins lighting up like cracks of energy beneath his skin. Gold and black intertwined, colliding like two warring forces.
It surged through his hands, down his fingers, into the axe.
The weapon hummed.
The first soldier reached him, raising his sword. Isaac twisted. His axe spun out, a smooth arc of destruction.
One spin. The soldier barely had time to blink before his chest split open, ribs shattering.
Two spins. Another head flew. Blood sprayed across the dirt.
Three spins. The others barely had time to scream before the axe cut through them like a reaper's scythe through wheat.
The world slowed.
Blood spiraled in the air, forming a perfect red halo around Isaac's spinning form. Severed limbs twisted midair. Steel clashed, then shattered.
Then... silence.
The bluish glow faded. The bodies hit the ground at the same time, a sickening symphony of flesh and metal.
Isaac exhaled slowly.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Blood trickled from his axe, pooling at his feet. He stared at his hands, at the faint glow still flickering beneath his skin.
[Reaper's Spiral: 25% Mastery]
The numbers flashed in his vision, without warning, without explanation.
A small smile curled on his lips. But it wasn't over.
The last fifteen soldiers spread out, shields locked together, swords raised.
A Sphere Formation.
A tactical move designed to crush a single opponent, giving them no escape.
Isaac tilted his head. "No escape?"
His fingers tightened around the axe handle. The glow returned.
Bluish veins surged again, pulsing like a living current, feeding into his weapon.
The soldiers hesitated.
Something felt wrong.
Then...
Boom.
Isaac moved.
His body spun, his axe whirling like a storm.
The first sweep. The soldiers in front barely saw it before their chests exploded, sending them flying.
The second sweep. Three more soldiers fell, their shields sliced apart like paper.
The third sweep. A whirlwind of red mist burst into the air as the formation collapsed in an instant.
Blood. Limbs. Screams.
[Reaper's Spiral: 45% Mastery]
Isaac stopped mid-spin. His axe dripped.
The battlefield fell silent.
The commander had watched it all.
His lips curled into a smirk as he reached into his coat, pulling out his special eyeglass device.
He felt something was different about the farm boy. So he raised the eyeglass.
The display flickered, scanning...
[Class: E]
[Specialty: Farmer]
[Abilities: Crop Cultivation, Harvest Efficiency, Soil Analysis, Livestock Farming..]
"...Nothing?" The commander's smirk twitched. He adjusted the eyeglass, scanning again.
[Class: E]
[Specialty: Farmer]
[Abilities: Crop Cultivation, Harvest Efficiency, Soil Analysis, Livestock Farming..]
His eyebrow raised.
"Still an E-Class?" he muttered. "Even after all that?"
Instead of frustration, amusement flickered in his eyes.
He chuckled under his breath. "You're a strange one, farm boy. Let's see if you can dodge this all at once."
Then, he snapped his fingers.
"Archers! Fire!"
From the treetops, twenty archers were already in place and took aim.
Isaac looked up.
Too many at once.
Even he couldn't block all of them.
The commander grinned. This would be the end.
Then...
Fwoosh!
A single fireball streaked through the air.
Then another.
Then another.
One by one, the archers were hit before they could release their arrows.
Some fell from their perches, screaming. Others, caught off guard, dropped their bows, their hands burned.
Isaac's gaze flicked to the side.
There, standing atop the carriage, a faint trail of smoke rose from her fingertips.
Aiah.
Her yellow hair flowed in the night breeze, her fiery eyes locked onto the remaining enemies.