CHAPTER 7

Ambush (Part 2)

Khazar twisted his body immediately. A whirling axe whooshed past just beneath his chin.

If he hadn’t dodged, his back would’ve been split like firewood.

“You sneaky rat!”

Kashion’s subordinate yanked the axe out of the ground.

“Rat? Who are you talking about?”

Khazar shrugged shamelessly as he replied.

“Who? You! You brought those savages here and caused this mess—”

Just as the mercenary yelled, Khazar slipped forward and stabbed a dagger into the inside of his knee.

“Aaagh!”

The mercenary screamed, grabbing his injured knee and swinging his axe. It narrowly missed Khazar’s head.

Using one arm for support, Khazar kicked the mercenary’s injured leg with both feet.

The man toppled over, and Khazar wrapped his legs around the fallen man’s neck and twisted hard.

Crack!

The sound of the mercenary’s neck breaking was followed by his body falling limp.

‘Small fry.’

It had been three days since Khazar escaped the mines. He had mostly adapted to his new body by now.

His body still wasn’t fully restored, and the quality of his aura was poor, but his movements were smoother than before.

In his past life, Kashion had used Khazar as bait to lure the elite troops of the Cornu tribe in order to steal their loot.

Although Kashion’s men called themselves a “mercenary corps,” Khazar saw little difference between them and the barbaric Cornu tribe.

The Cornu had pillaged the village. The mercenaries, in turn, had plundered the Cornu.

‘Now it’s my turn to plunder.’

Wiping his bloodied dagger on his thigh, Khazar ran into the chaotic battlefield.

Though they were considered elite, Shakim’s Cornu warriors couldn’t match the strength of Kashion’s veteran mercenary corps.

While Shakim was locked in a deadlock with Kashion, the aura warriors of the mercenaries worked in pairs to push back the Cornu soldiers.

Soon, the nine Cornu warriors were reduced to five. The tribe had to make a decision.

“Shakim, I’ll open a path! Get out of here!”

One of Shakim’s men shouted as he intercepted Kashion’s sword.

“You’re not going anywhere!”

Two mercenaries joined in, pulling the warrior away so Kashion could continue fighting Shakim.

“Haaah!”

Kashion pressed hard on Shakim.

His swordplay, refined over countless battles, was filled with countless feints and tricks.

Not just his blade, but his fingers, toes, even eye movements worked to confuse the opponent.

He’d fake a downward strike only to swing sideways, graze the opponent’s wrist subtly, then disrupt balance with a kick.

Compared to this dynamic and flexible style, Shakim’s brute-force sword was too heavy and straightforward.

“Haaa!”

The two warriors’ aura clashed violently, releasing a shockwave.

Leaves, dirt, and grass swirled into the air like smoke as Kashion’s sword thrust toward Shakim’s chest.

Shakim deflected the attack, but Kashion smoothly slid his blade along Shakim’s and changed its angle.

Zzzzzing!

Sparks flew as the swords scraped against each other.

Shakim knocked Kashion’s sword upward, but Kashion spun like a top, redirected his strike, and once again targeted Shakim’s chest.

Shakim leaned back to avoid it, but at that moment, Kashion’s subordinate stabbed into his exposed armpit.

Shakim tried to knock the blade away and retreat.

But just then, Khazar slid in like a sled on ice and slashed Shakim’s thigh.

‘I’ll kill Kashion later. This one comes first!’

Khazar had orchestrated the fight between the two factions to steal the artifact and kill both Kashion and Shakim. But after seeing how tough Kashion was, he decided to abandon one of his three goals.

“Ugh!”

Staggering from the slash, Shakim couldn’t dodge Kashion’s next blow. His arm flew off, spraying blood.

Splash!

Khazar snatched up the severed arm while dodging backward.

Wham!

Kashion’s sword struck the ground where Khazar had been. Even though it missed, the sharp aura sliced Khazar’s skin.

His left arm was wounded, but he had no time to care. As soon as he dodged Kashion’s strike, Shakim and the other Cornu warrior came at him.

“You!”

Kashion cut down a Cornu warrior and yelled.

That brat who brought barbarians into their camp. A black little devil—Kashion’s first impression of Khazar.

“Shakim!”

A Cornu warrior nearby brought Shakim his horse. Shakim mounted and fled.

“After him!”

Kashion turned to mount his own horse.

Khazar tried to use this moment to escape, but Kashion threw a dagger at him.

Thud!

It embedded itself perfectly between Khazar’s shoulder blades.

Khazar’s aura had blocked Cornu arrows but couldn’t withstand Kashion’s. Struck in a vital spot, he collapsed.

“Don’t let any of them get away!”

Confirming the hit, Kashion also mounted his horse and gave chase.

As the sound of hooves thundered away, Khazar remembered the past.

“Didn’t I tell you not to act out? Why didn’t you listen to your father?”

That day, after killing the lord’s enemy for Kashion, Khazar had been handed over to the lord instead.

The lord needed a scapegoat to take the blame for an assassination, and Kashion needed a way to get rid of his stronger foster son.

That night, Khazar was branded a murderer. His tendons were severed and he was thrown to the dogs.

Kashion wasn’t the only betrayer in Khazar’s life.

His friends and subordinates had betrayed him, his concubine had poisoned him, and even his wife and children had joined his enemies to overthrow him.

So a dagger in the back wasn’t anything new.

‘Been a while since I felt this kind of pain.’

After becoming a Swordmaster, Khazar had never been seriously wounded in any fight.

Now, after returning 50 years into the past, he was rediscovering long-forgotten sensations.

‘Hurts like hell.’

The pain from the dagger was mind-numbing. Even though he had prepared himself, he still nearly passed out.

After Kashion’s group left, Khazar used a self-healing aura technique to stop the bleeding and numb the pain.

This was a high-level skill only masters like Kashion or Shakim could use.

No one expected a teenage aura novice to survive that wound.

But this was Khazar’s second life. As someone who had once been called an Aura Master, healing himself felt like retracing a familiar path.

Thump-thump-thump…

Once the mercenaries were far enough, Khazar pulled Shakim’s severed arm from beneath him and slipped the ring off.

The large ring shrank to fit his finger, and a magical seal appeared briefly before vanishing.

With its effect, energy returned to his body, and his aura power increased. Shakim’s ring was made for aura users.

Most of the mercenaries had chased the Cornu. Only three remained to guard the camp.

Khazar, still hidden, pulled out Kashion’s dagger from his back.

Shhhk.

As the dagger came free, the wound sealed itself as if lips were closing.

Khazar threw the bloody dagger at a nearby mercenary.

Gack!

It pierced the man’s throat perfectly.

“How is he alive?!”

The others, who had assumed he was dead, quickly drew their weapons.

But the moment they approached, Khazar had already slipped between them.

Flash!

In an instant, he drove a dagger into one mercenary’s stomach, took his sword, and slashed the other’s neck.

Thud.

Both bodies hit the ground almost at the same time.

Khazar looted their money and mounted a strong-looking horse.

The porters only stared in shock. No one dared stop him.

Calmly riding out of the camp, Khazar vanished into the woods.

To avoid pursuit, he chose forest paths over open fields.

But just as he relaxed, a black arrow flew out of the darkness.

He ducked to dodge it and kicked the horse to speed up. More arrows whistled past.

“Catch him!”

Bad luck. While trying to take a long detour, he’d been spotted.

Arrows rained down, and a whistle sounded.

More mercenaries blocked his path.

“Hyah!”

Khazar turned the horse every which way to escape.

The Cornu, hearing the noise, also changed direction.

“Damn it! Those savages noticed us because of him!”

The mercenaries grumbled.

“We’ll hold them off! The rest of you, catch him!”

The group split—most chased the Cornu; three or four followed Khazar.

While fleeing, Khazar saw sparks flashing in the darkness. Shakim and Kashion were fighting fiercely on a dark hill. Missing an arm, Shakim looked to be losing.

‘Kashion… Next time, I’ll take your head.’

Khazar already knew where Kashion would head next. For now, escaping pursuit was more important.

‘Urgh…’

His wound reopened from riding hard. His back felt like it was on fire.

Healing aura was only a temporary fix, not a full recovery. If he passed out before getting real treatment, it could be fatal.

Gritting his teeth, Khazar rode faster. As he entered a smaller forest, several mercenaries followed closely behind.

He considered grabbing a tree branch and ambushing the nearest one, but that would leave him exposed.

One of the pursuers was an aura user. In his current state, fighting was too risky.

Running was the only option.

Just then, a sudden gust of wind blew from ahead.

“Whoa!”

“What the—?!”

“Hyaaaah!”

The forest roared. Leaves, dirt, and grass swirled, blocking vision. Horses neighed, men shouted and screamed.

Khazar turned to see a tornado spiraling around him—but not touching him.

‘Magic? Don’t tell me—it’s Tirad?’

He looked into the shadows. It was true—Tirad had come.

While Khazar was stunned, Tirad cast more spells. Thorned vines burst from the ground and coiled around the mercenaries’ horses.

The beasts bucked wildly as the men ripped at the vines. Just as they broke free—

“Ghhk… I can’t breathe…”

The mercenaries clutched their throats. Foaming horses collapsed one by one.

One mercenary slashed the darkness with an aura blade. The invisible shield split, sucking in surrounding air.

Khazar understood instantly.

‘A vacuum shield!’

He admired Tirad’s cleverness. It was a basic spell, but deadly.

“Haaah!”

The surviving mercenary blindly fired aura blades.

Trees fell. Branches rained down.

Khazar blocked the gusts with his aura.

“Hey, Tiri! You came to pick me up? Missed me that much?”

Instead of answering, Tirad (Ernolf) attacked the man.

Wind Bullet!

A small, spinning airball shot from his hand, colliding with the enemy’s aura.

‘Not strong enough…’

Just like Khazar missed his old power, Ernolf missed his old magic.

But he wasn’t alone. With the opening he created, Khazar slashed the man’s side. Ernolf followed up.

Ice!

The enemy’s leg froze—but shattered within a second due to his aura.

It was enough. Khazar’s blade flashed and decapitated the aura user.

“Haa… haa…”

As Khazar finished off the last enemy, Ernolf collapsed.

Using mana recklessly had left him shaking, breathless, and stiff-limbed.

“Tiri!”

Khazar ran over and supported him.

In his past life, he couldn’t trust anyone—not even his own children.

But now, this sickly brother had dragged himself here and used all his strength for him.

“How did you know where I was?”

“You… called me, you idiot…”

Ernolf mumbled with difficulty.

“I called you?”

Surprised, Khazar muttered as if something dawned on him.

“…You felt it, didn’t you? Even if you lost your memory, we were still one…”

Smiling with joy, he pulled off Shakim’s ring and slid it onto Ernolf’s finger.

“You’ll never betray me… right?”

The ring adjusted to fit Ernolf, glowed blue briefly, and fell silent.

Khazar quietly smiled as life returned to Ernolf’s pale face.