Tairo watched from several meters away with an exhausted look on his face, as Nova struggled with everything he had to stop the sword crescent from splitting him in half. Gasping for air, he said, "I shouldn't have hesitated to use the third sword from the start, even if I had to sacrifice both of my arms for it. From the looks of it, he might still be alive against the second." He sighed heavily.

The difference in strength between the second and third sword was like the difference between the Skyrend Blade and Nova's simple wind blade. But the cost of using the latter below the fourth stage was so high that no one did it unless they were in mortal danger.

While Tairo wrestled with his own emotions, Nova was having his own struggles. Dreadscape's spearhead had been thoroughly shattered, and the force behind the sword crescent soon split the shaft in half before it soon was upon Nova.

He quickly let go of the broken spear, and his blood-red Aura flared, halting Tairo's for a few seconds. Soon, however, signs of struggle became visible as Nova's Aura bent inward until a small section was pierced, giving the sword crescent free passage to land on his chest and open a deep gash.

Nova stood frozen, one hand instinctively pressing against the wound to stop the blood. His face contorted in pain as sweat rolled down his forehead. 'Again, I was seriously injured due to my lack of knowledge of techniques,' he thought. Water and wood Mana particles hastily gathered to heal the wound and bolster his already high regeneration, greatly accelerating the process.

Tairo couldn't see much from his position, other than Nova clutching his chest as blood flowed out, dyeing his clothes red.

"Did I manage to sever his heart?" he muttered weakly, but his pale face lit up with hope. Hands slightly clenched, he waited for Nova's body to collapse. Every second felt like an hour, but as minutes passed, his hope began to waver. "What's happening? Why is he still on his feet when his heart is severed?"

When another minute passed and Nova remained standing, Tairo finally gritted his teeth. "I need to get close and see what's happening."

Wanting to know more he slowly approached. The closer he got, the clearer the situation became. Nova's breathing was shallow, but undeniably present, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. The hand that had been clutching his chest was now relaxed, the blood having mostly stopped flowing, save for a few droplets.

The sight made Tairo exclaim in disbelief. "Impossible. How is he still perfectly breathing after being so severely wounded? And why does it seem like no more blood is coming out? What exactly is happening?!"

Urgency took over, and his steps quickened until he was just a meter away from Nova. From such a close distance, he observed carefully, but the more he watched, the less sense it made. In the time it took him to reach Nova, the rate at which his chest rose and fell had actually quickened, instead of slowing down.

"Is he…?"

Tairo's words caught in his throat as Nova's eyes opened, those cold blue eyes sent a chill down his spine.

Nova's fingers traced the still-open wound as he said softly, "This is the second time I've come so close to death against people in this world, and both times it was due to my ignorance. Tell me, if I spare your life, will you teach me that technique you just used?"

He had come here to become stronger. If sparing lives could help him achieve that, he would do so without a second thought, but the same was true if taking them helped him.

Mouth agape, Tairo's mind ran wild. There's no human who can be perfectly fine after suffering such an injury. I've never even heard of anyone like this… is he some kind of monster? Did Lotra hide such an entity to rebel against the Empire? I need to report this back but I doubt he'll let me leave.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

The knight hadn't even, for a single moment, thought about teaching Nova his Commander's art. All he wanted now was to warn his army camp about Nova and what looked like a rebellion from the Lotra Kingdom.

"You aren't listening to me,"

Nova's words snapped Tairo out of his daze, prompting the knight to shout, "I'll never teach you anything, monster! You think you've won? That you're clever? Whatever you and Lotra plan to do won't go well, you have no idea what you're going up against!"

Sighing, Nova thought, 'I wanted to use this on that prince from Lotra, but I might as well use this knight… Wait, if I use this knight, then I can also use the prince…' Slowly, a new plan formed in his mind, one that almost made him thank Tairo for refusing to share his technique, or he would have truly let him go.

Grinning, he stared at the knight, making Tairo uncomfortable. But the unease lasted only a dozen seconds before Nova pulled his gaze back and said, "Alright, thanks for the warning. It was… fun fighting you."

"What are you—"

Nova waved his hand, and multiple wind blades, far stronger than three days ago, slashed at Tairo who had his eyes wide open witnessing Nova's use of magic, tearing him to pieces before Nova used his fire Mana particles to reduce the remains to ashes.

"This Tairo is gone…"

He pulled the Mask of Three Faces from his inventory and put it on. His face and body morphed into Tairo's, and his voice rang out twice before slowly settling into Tairo's. "But a new Tairo is born."

Chuckling at his own antics, he gathered whatever remained of Tairo's belongings, one of which was a token with the word "Senna" etched on its surface.

Staring at it, Nova thought, 'Senna… It's the same name as that sword art he used. Is this some kind of identification token? I'll test it out soon.'

He threw everything into his Inventory and walked over to grab the broken Dreadscape. He stared at it quietly for a few moments and muttered "Don't worry I'll fix you soon." With that he stored the broken pieces and slowly made his way back to Larmida.

Hours later, when he finally reached the capital city, he looked up at the sky and muttered, "Letto must've finished his arena matches for the day. I'll meet him at the inn then."

Without pausing, he walked to the inn and knocked on Letto's door. It was quickly opened by a pale-faced Letto, his body wrapped in bandages.

The ex-bandit stared at Nova, who now wore Tairo's face, and narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"

Nova smiled and lifted the mask just enough to reveal a glimpse of his true face. That single moment was enough to make Letto stutter in horror. "You! How?!"

Raising an eyebrow, Nova echoed back, "You?"

Realizing his slip, Letto quickly corrected himself. "Sir, I meant sir!"

Nova snorted lightly, shoving Letto back into the room before stepping inside and closing the door behind him.

"There's been a change of plans, and I need you to listen carefully," he said, his tone deadly serious.

Letto nodded.

"I'll be away for a week or two, it depends on how things go on my end, and when the armies start marching toward Blackridge."

Letto listened attentively before asking, "What about me?"

"I want you to keep training at the arena. Hone your technique with the sword, and don't die. To be honest, I have no hopes for you to understand Aura before I come back."

The ex-bandit's lips twitched. His head hung low, but a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. I'll definitely prove you wrong. I swear it.

"One last piece of advice. Don't draw too much attention to yourself, or your life won't be in your hands anymore. Keep that in mind when you fight." Nova patted Letto on the shoulder and quickly left before the latter could ask any more questions.

On the street, Nova thought, 'Things will get interesting now.' With a smile, he made his way toward the inner city.

At the roadblock, a guard stepped forward and ordered, "Provide your identification."

Nova coolly fished out the Senna token. At first, the guard only looked surprised, but then he spat, "What am I supposed to do with this? Who even is Senna? Get lost—"

"What did you say?" a knight several meters away suddenly asked.

"Sir, this person showed a trash token, thinking he could get past this roadblock," the guard explained respectfully.

The knight snorted, then slowly clarified, "I meant, did you just say Senna?"

The guard blinked in confusion and nodded, not understanding why an honorable knight would ask something so strange.

The knight immediately sprinted toward Nova. "Sir, may I please see the token?"

'Seems like it carries some weight,' Nova thought as he presented it. The knight respectfully accepted it with both hands and stared intently at its surface for several long seconds. The more he stared, the more his hands trembled, until he suddenly dropped to his knees and shouted,

"Sir, this knight welcomes you to the Lotra Kingdom!"

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