A Background Character's Fate

49. Overwhelming Defeat

The assassins grip their weapon tightly. Their identity is hidden behind the vast black coat and cloth wrapping from head to toe.

"Fuck!"

Two fields of red aura detonate from both assassins, blasting nearby snow and animals away.

A master's exclusive skill, Domain.

The red condenses around their body and both disappear in a blink.

*WHOOSH!*

I jump back before a blade sweeps my neck and step to the side as a thrust pierces my afterimage. Our fight progresses through the forest, often the assassins making a fool of themselves as I evade every single attack.

"Stop moving!!!" One assassin shouts in frustration. Their flurry of aura zigzags across the air, decimating the surroundings with ease. Yet, they can't hit one man not even using his aura.

So this is what Marcus meant by the roots of oneself. To think I can easily suppress two peak masters when I am one myself.

They are slow in my eyes. I can predict all the paths and trajectories of each strike, filter out the unlikely, and move accordingly.

*BOOOM!!*

Both eject their aura in an attempt to injure me, blasting a cloudy displacement of snow into the sky. The melted vapour masks the sight of the experts. When it clears up, all that remains is a crater of shattered trees and charred layers of snow.

"He's gone?" one of them says.

"No...that can't be." The other assassin says. "He is stronger than he seems."

He quickly looks around but detects nothing as if his target became a phantom.

"U-Up there!"

The second assassin looks up and his jaws drop. "He is floating...? No, he is stepping in mana..."

Above them, I walk freely, compiling the atmosphere mana to materialize translucent platforms. In the mountains, I found it difficult and annoying to traverse and thus eventually, my body learned Sky Steps as a byproduct of my immense mana control proficiency.

"Isn't that something only mages can do?"
"F-Fuck me..."

A swordsman usually refines the mana stored throughout their body, thus creating a collective substance called an aura and enhancing their body. However, I enhanced my aura the mage way by collecting mana with cultivation methods and relied more on physical training for body conditioning.

The results? Overwhelming difference in every aspect despite the same quality of aura.

That's why my combat power is vastly higher than the peak masters beneath my feet.

"His aura is surely one of peak master but what is this...why is the gap so big...?" one of the assassins whispers.

"It's a failure; We can't defeat him. Run with this information, I will stall him!"

I gather my aura within my lower energy core and rapidly expand it outside my body, forming my field of domain across the terrain.

"NGH?!"
"UGH?!!!"

Something freezes time in their body, rooting them in place. In their head, countless swords chain their soul to the ground, inflicting non-existent pain on their mind. They couldn't escape. They couldn't scream.

Visible trembling is observed when I land near.

"Hm..." I step closer and inspect the frozen statues.