At a certain hallway inside an ancient stone castle, the dull clangs of stone swords clashing with one forged from divine metal under a blood-red moon echoed.

Then a loud rumble.

Cracks crawled through a small portion of the minor hallway as an azure sword descended, forming a small crater and destroying an entire squadron of Forsaken Legionaries.

This was already the third squadron Daru had wiped out, but more were replacing the vanquished wraiths.

It seemed as though the tide of legionaries would never end until his life did.

Only…it would.

Daru had caught a glimpse of it before he was enveloped by the azure manifestation that blurred everything outside the range of the huge sword image.

He thought he would have to fight through all the wraiths designated to defend the first floor of the stone castle and was even mentally ready to battle the entire castle, if that was what he needed to do…even if he wasn't sure whether he would still be alive by the end of it.

But as it turned out, although wraiths in the hallways near the one he was in responded to the commotion of his battle against the two squadrons that had caught him sneaking around, the entire castle didn't.

Nonetheless, he at least had to survive a little over a hundred wraiths.

A feat easier than surviving multiple hundreds, or even thousands, but still a daunting task.

A majority of bladeborns would've despaired immediately at the sight he saw at the peak of Azure Swordfall's height.

But not Daru.

Small as his chances of succeeding were and uncertain as his fate was even after he managed to escape this hallway, there remained a competitive smile on his face.

This…this was a challenge he craved — an extremely difficult one, but winnable.

And so, he didn't stop waving his arms, reaping limbs, heads, and the lives of the unholy. Somersault Slash and Crescent Dicer served him well.

However, what truly allowed him to survive for way longer than he should have was Swallow Step.

Like a graceful yet bold swallow, Daru danced around the small space he had, not allowing the Forsaken Legionaries to further corner him.

He would take a limb or a head, disappear, reappear somewhere else — already performing the preparatory steps for the next burst — take another limb or life and repeat.

He defended himself like so.

Needless to say, it was impossible to dodge everything against so many opponents. Daru was getting wounded, too, and way more than he preferred.

In fact, he already had a level three bleeding status active, and of harrowing true blood at that, not mere red cubic particles.

Swallow Step also drained his stamina like a thirsty camel.

There were still a little over eighty Forsaken Legionaries he had to deal with, and yet, he was already so tired.

The blood flowing out of his body also weakened him — an experience he had never had before.

Daru now understood why, in true combat, it was impossible to truly fight to the best of one's abilities until the end.

When one was bloodied and tired, even honed focus would waver.

It was simply the limits of mortals — of beings made of flesh, blood, and bone.

Yet, despite the bleak future that awaited at the end of the seemingly doomed struggle, there was not a hint of despair in Daru's heart.

The seemingly unwinnable battle…was winnable.

His stamina was dwindling at a far faster rate than he was used to, he was bleeding heavily, his vision was starting to blur, his body was feeling heavy, and his focus was starting to slip.

However, at the same time, the dings of notifications had never stopped ringing in his head.

While this didn't affect his focus in any negative or positive way, it meant something.

His experience points were slowly but steadily being filled to the brim.

Each of the Forsaken Legionaries was eight levels below him, but they were of the underworld, and they gave far more experience points compared to the regular spawns of the Surface, though one would have to work far harder to obtain these experience points.

'Focus…focus just a bit more…'

His arms were heavy, but Daru continued to swing them. His legs, too, but they remained on the move.

This was his truest struggle to date.

He fought, and fought…and fought even more, reducing the limbs and number of Forsaken Legionaries.

Daru was too tired to count how many he had cut down, and it was irrelevant, as well.

All he needed to do was keep killing…and killing.

Then it sounded.

A dinging sound far sweeter than any he had heard since he was caught red-handed sneaking around the castle — the notification that he had leveled up.

Before a moment had even passed, Daru's entire being was rejuvenated as the warmest and most tender of energies coursed through his body.

His wounds healed, and his stamina returned to its peak instantaneously.

It was as though the grace of the gods had finally pierced through the gray veil and managed to reach him.

After a desperate and fierce struggle, the wretch was rewarded.

But there was no time to relax.

There were still more than seventy enemies, and he still had to further reduce their numbers if he wanted to have a chance to escape the hallway.

And so that's what Daru did.

With his hitpoints and stamina back to full, killing Forsaken Legionaries became relatively easier compared to earlier.

He kept his status window open, too, allocating the gained attribute points with every split second of availability he gained from fiercely pushing back the wave of wraiths.

Soon, he was able to allocate all five: three to stamina and two to dexterity.

These were the attributes he needed the most right now.

The small increase made his daunting task another wee bit easier.

'Just a little more…'

Daru made sure to use Somersault Slash from time to time to check the dwindling wave of horrors, fighting…and fighting…

Finally, after around two more minutes, he found it.

A chance.

He quickly assumed an L-stance, firing a Crescent Dicer that gave him a bit of space and slaying three wraiths in the process.

[You've slain a Forsaken Legionary Lv.50]

…

The moment after that, he felt his Azure Swordfall go off cooldown, and he jumped, turning into an azure sword and meteoring towards the wary wraiths.

This time, though, Daru's targets weren't the ones in the front of the formation, but the ones in the middle.

*BANG!*

He crashed into the stone flooring, the impact resulting in a small crater…and enough space for him to accelerate into a sprint.

Daru was going for an escape worthy of a master thief.

The moment he reached the lines of legionaries a bit further at the back, he jumped again and turned into a red tornado.

Now his true target was within range: the lone Condemned Centurion near the back.

Daru slashed his sword at the level fifty-five elite, holding back a little to ensure success.

Two moments later, a dull clang echoed across the minor hallway.

Tornado Slash was blocked.

The smile on Daru's face widened as he was thrown deeper into the back of the wraith army.

Another moment later, he landed in the main hallway, free to run wherever he wished.

The cornered wretch had escaped...for now.

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