Reincarnated in the Astral World

Chapter 51: Lion's Heart (1/2)

Inside the Carpenters' tavern, Arthur looks out the window at the noble's group arriving. "They're here," he comments while casting a gentle look at Margaret, who is trying to calm her mother. "Stay here, honey; I'll sort it out."

"Mm," Margaret nods at Arthur, but her father leaves through the door before she can stop him. "I'll explain to them that this is my fault!" He feels very guilty about his bad decision and doesn't want to cause trouble for Arthur's family.

"No, Father!" Margaret tries to follow her father, but Arthur stops her and tenderly caresses her face. "It's going to be alright, just wait here." She nods again, and he leaves the tavern after her father.

The thirty soldiers around the young Master spread out around the tavern, creating a human barrier as a man who appears to be in his forties dismounts from his horse and approaches Mr. Carpenter, showing a picture of Margaret. "We are with the Young Master of the Lark family. Are you the owner of this tavern and the father of this girl?"

"Yes, my Lord," Margaret's father kneels in front of the man, his face a mess of despair. "But this is a misunderstanding; I made a mistake, and I am willing to accept the consequences!"

"Huh?" The man is confused, and the young Master frowns from atop his horse. "What do you mean? This girl isn't here?"

"She is," speaks Arthur, who cannot hide a proud gleam in his cold eyes. "But she is not available."

When Arthur speaks, all eyes are drawn to him, and everyone's first reaction is the same. 'Damn, he's handsome!' Especially, the young Master can't help but feel more envious than ever. Despite looking younger, Arthur is taller, more muscular, more handsome, and much more attractive than he could ever dream of being.

"Who the hell are you, boy?" The young Master casts a hostile glance at Arthur, already hating him just for his look. The soldiers notice the tension rising quickly and begin to surround Arthur.

But he remains calm, looking at the young Master while Nyx informs him about the power level of everyone nearby. 'There are five Fighters, and those two old ones are Elites; the rest are trash.' Despite her report including two Elite Warriors, Arthur doesn't feel scared or lose his calm; on the contrary, he becomes even more focused, his mind working on action plans.

He knows he needs to be smart to catch the Elites off-guard and have a chance to cut them, so he walks cautiously toward the young Master. "I am the husband of the woman you will never touch..."

"Such insolence!" The young Master exclaims angrily, his eyes shining and his mind filled with cruel thoughts. He signals to one of the Fighters, the captain of the guards, while keeping his eyes fixed on Arthur. "I came from far away to this backwater village to get that bitch, so I won't leave here without her."

"Sounds good to me," Arthur speaks in a cold, disdainful tone. "I mean, not the part about you taking my wife, but the part where you don't leave here anymore~"

"YOU INSOLENT WORM!!" One of the Novice ranks runs towards Arthur with a spear in hand; his movements are much faster and more precise than the bandits Arthur faced before.

But Arthur has improved a lot since that time; now, especially thanks to his Mastery level, he can easily see through the soldier's movements, his mind predicting all his possible moves in less than a second.

*Whoosh* Arthur simply steps to the side, making the soldier's spear miss his waist by a few centimeters, the edges of his tunic fluttering gently in the air. Then, he grabs the guy by the collar with one hand while drawing his sword with the other and places the blade's tip against the poor man's neck.

Now holding him as a hostage, Arthur signals Mr. Carpenter to retreat into the tavern before looking at the other soldiers. "You don't need to die today; just leave this village and never come back; that's my only offer."

The man tries to call for help, but Arthur pushes the tip of his sword against his neck, slightly piercing his skin and releasing a few drops of blood. The other Novice Warriors are shocked because they could not see Arthur's movements, while even the Fighters and Elites are surprised by his skills.

But the young Master Lark just rolls his eyes. "Take down that son of a bitch, but don't kill him; I want him to watch me ravaging the body of his girlfriend," His words incite fury within Arthur, causing his blue eyes to shine with cold darkness.

*BAM* He pushes the soldier forward and kicks him in the back, throwing him to the ground. Arthur twirls his sword as he moves to the side, his eyes fixed on the Elites and the young Master behind. "If you want to do this the hard way, be my guest."

'You only have one chance before the Elites grow alert,' Nyx suggests in Arthur's mind, and he agrees, so he waits until his enemies make the first move, putting on a fake expression of concern. That works as the captain of the Fighters advances, drawing his own sword and ordering the guards. "Don't let him escape; I'll handle this."

The captain is a tall, muscular man in his forties; his sword is long and doesn't seem very special, but he draws it with some experience as he advances towards Arthur.

The other soldiers act in sync, surrounding Arthur on the sides with sharp spears; his Rare tunic should withstand an attack from a Novice Warrior with a simple weapon without difficulties, so he keeps his focus on the Fighter captain and the Elites behind.

Arthur prepares, planting his feet on the ground and gripping the handle of his sword tightly. He knows he can only use two wide slashes with his Intent before his body becomes exhausted, 'I have to kill at least one Elite with this strike.' He keeps his eyes on the target, focusing his senses to the maximum.

The Captain takes a large step forward and raises his sword. "This isn't personal, boy!" He shows a mocking smile, but Arthur remains tranquil on the outside while burning inside. "There's nothing more personal than coming after a man's wife…"

"Bad luck for you," the captain brings his sword down on Arthur with all the force and speed of someone of the seventh grade of the Fighter Rank, a little more than a whole Rank above Arthur. But that doesn't stop him from easily predicting his movement due to his superior Mastery level.

*WHOONG* Arthur condenses his will and swings his sword horizontally, his blade faster, sharper, and much more lethal than his adversary's. It shines with a bluish-black light, shocking the captain, who fails to react in time; the arc made of pure Intent is released from Arthur's blade and instantly cuts both the blade and the body of the captain in half. *SLICE!*

Those behind the captain only see his body bisected into bloody halves and that bluish-black arc still heading towards them unimpeded. "WATCH OUT!!!" The Elites are the first to react; one of them jumps to the side and the other over young Master Lark, all trying to avoid Arthur's attack.

It passes through several Novice Warriors, killing them instantly, as well as two other Fighters, but the Elites manage to escape the attack in time, although the one who had to pull young Master out of the way is slightly wounded by the tip of the arc, getting a cut on his arm.

"SWORD INTENT???" The Elites exclaim in shock.

"SWORD INTENT!!!" Alicia and Draven also exclaim as they watch the fight from behind some shrubbery three hundred meters away along with Aria.

Draven's eyes are wide open in disbelief. 'How can he already be a Swordmaster??' A part of Draven feels proud; after all, Arthur is his son, so some of the praises should be for him, too.

However, when he looks to the side, the expression on Alicia's face is like a cold knife piercing his heart. Her eyes display a mix of loving admiration and heart-warming pride, a way she used to look at him when she was a little kid, but it's been decades since the last time she gave him that look.

Aria looks at Arthur with a heated gaze of love and pride, which makes Draven realize a harsh truth. 'She never looked at me like that...' It's not just about the love but also all the other good feelings in her eyes; whether it's about admiration, affection, or devotion, Draven has never been able to awaken such feelings in her. 'Why? How can I lose to him this much?'

As if Draven's torture by his envy wasn't enough, Alicia, ignorant, adds more salt to his wound. "Hahaha, look at him; my handsome nephew is already a Swordmaster at fourteen!! That's what a true Lion must be like, goddamn!!"

Aria's eyes sparkle like two pearls. "We knew these trash would come a week ago; this is the result of him training hard day and night since then." She brags about her son proudly, leaving Draven even more jealous and Alicia even more excited.

"However, he didn't manage to kill any of the Elites; he's going to get beaten now for attacking those guys for no good reason," Draven comments, unable to hide his frustrations.

Before Aria can defend Arthur, Alicia does so by casting a stern and disapproving look at Draven. "Damn, he's at the sixth grade of the Mystic Novice rank facing such enemies; I don't remember you ever defeating someone a whole rank above yours, let alone two! Also, he is killing the trash that wants to harm his family; this must be the most important legacy of our family!"

Aria's esteem for Alicia rises even higher in her heart, and she smiles at the Warrior Princess. "Arthur is not finished yet, he asked me to intervene only in an extreme case."

"Oh, he has the balls, I see," Alicia's smile becomes even brighter as she watches Arthur. "But if those Elites try any dirty tricks..." Her sharp teeth become visible as she imagines someone hurting her wonderful nephew.

As the spectators go wild with Arthur's first move, which includes Margaret and her family inside the tavern, he gasps a little. His body feels the impact of using such a powerful attack.

'Damn, I didn't manage to really harm any of the Elites!' Arthur curses in his mind while trying to refocus. Inside his Nexus, Nyx focuses on sharing all her Astral Energy with him, making him feel waves of energy running through his body. 'You can still use one more attack like that; make them regret coming here!' She encourages him.

'Sure, honey,' Arthur focuses his senses, and while his enemies are still dealing with the shock of his first attack, he rushes towards the nearest soldiers. *Whoosh* His movements are fast, precise, and lethal; with each swing of his sword, he decapitates a Novice Warrior, sending heads and blood flying in a bloody dance.

"FUCK!!"

"NOOO!!!"

"RUN! HE'S A DEMON!!!"

The weaker soldiers panic as they see Arthur easily slaughtering them down, but the two remaining Fighters join forces while the two old Elites position themselves in front of young Master Lark, who yells hysterically. "What are you waiting for?! Kill that motherfucker already!!"

Fighting against a Weapon Master is extremely dangerous because such people can kill their opponents with a single strike, so even the Elites are afraid to recklessly charge at Arthur. However, one of the old men, who is more observant, points to the two Fighters. "He can't use that attack a second time with such a low cultivation level; attack him while he's tired!!"

The two men look at each other, one holding a long sword and the other a large axe. "We have to seize this chance!" The axe warrior exclaims and rushes towards Arthur, who is now dealing with the Novice Warriors.

The man raises his large axe and brings it down on Arthur while he has his sword plunged into the chest of one of the Novice soldiers. The man thinks Arthur can't escape this attack and furiously yells, using all his strength. "DIE, BOY!!!"

But Arthur was already aware of the attack and dodges it by a hair's breadth at the last second. *Whoosh* He pulls his sword from the chest of the other soldier and spins his body agilely; the axe of his opponent hits the ground, forming a crater and raising dust. *BAM*

'HUH?!' Before the man realizes he missed, Arthur attacks with his sharp sword, cutting off his arm and the shaft of the axe at the same time. *Whoosh* He swings his blade again to finish the man off but fails to connect the attack as the other Fighter arrives in time, attacking with his long sword.

Arthur reacts in time, raising his sword, which clashes against his attacker's, causing a loud *CLANG* to echo. Arthur feels his hand go numb from the strength of the swordsman Fighter, who tries to force his sword out of his hand. "Give up, boy, you can't win!!"

Arthur remains calm, his mind analyzing all possible movements of the swordsman and the other enemies around him. But meters away, behind the bushes, Alicia feels an instinctive desire to jump into the middle of the battle to help her nephew.

"He needs help!" She almost manages to jump forward, but two hands of pure gray energy hold her feet. "What?!" She looks to the side and sees Aria smiling confidently. "He's not cornered yet; let him show how fantastic he can be."

"Mm!" Alicia nods and turns her attention back to Arthur, realizing how his calm expression in the face of powerful enemies makes him look so cool and attractive, unlike any man she has ever seen. 'This nephew of mine is really something...'