Reincarnated in the Astral World

Chapter 52: Lion's Heart (2/2)

"ARRRGH!!!" The Swordsman guard clenches his teeth as he uses all his strength to press his sword against Arthur's, sweat running down his face painted with the colors of despair.

Arthur feels that he cannot hold for much longer in that position, but he hears the footsteps of the axe warrior, who, despite having one arm less, uses the other hand to contain the bleeding and advances towards him, initiating a kick. "HAAA!!!"

'This guy doesn't give up?' Arthur is impressed with the willpower of this guard, but that doesn't make him hesitate. He tilts his blade against the swordsman's, which passes a centimeter from his face; following in swift succession, Arthur sidesteps, also avoiding the kick of the axe soldier.

His opponents lose their footing for a second and take another to recover, time that Arthur uses to counterattack. As soon as he regains his balance, he dashes towards them like a beast, *Whoosh*. Singing his sword sideways, he makes a wide lateral cut, opening the stomach of the swordsman, who fails to react in time.

"NOOOOO!!!" The man drops his sword and tries to hold his falling guts, but before he realizes it, Arthur's sword returns and decapitates him; more blood flows while his body falls to the ground, lifeless.

That brutal scene shocks the axe soldier, who becomes paralyzed with fear. "No, no, no!!" The man begins to plead as Arthur casts his cold and dark gaze upon him, but it's too late; Arthur's figure flickers behind the tall man and plunges his sword into his heart with both hands. "Die." He says calmly and hits the pommel of his sword, making Its blade pierce his chest and heart.

When they see Arthur kill those experienced Fighters so easily, the Elites become more cautious. They know they cannot underestimate Arthur, so they exchange looks and act quickly. One of them takes a white ball from his belt and the other two sharp knives; the first throws the ball at Arthur while he is finishing off the axe soldier.

*Whizz* The ball approaches quickly, but then it explodes in the air, creating a cloud of white smoke, which is contained by a transparent oval barrier with a one-meter radius. When Arthur sees it, he can tell it's his mother's doing, protecting him from afar, but the Elites are shocked. "What the hell?!?"

'Thanks, Mom,' Arthur thinks of his mother as he stands up, the blood of his enemies trickling down the blade of his sword; then he looks coldly at the two old men. "Do you have any more tricks?" He can't resist the desire to provoke them just a little.

Both old men grind their teeth for being humiliated by a young boy, but instead of answering with words, one of them throws his knives at Arthur quickly. *Whizz* *Whizz* Arthur is shocked by their speed, but his sword moves by instinct, and he manages to deflect one of the knives *Clang* However, the other one hits his sleeve, cutting through his tunic and opening a light wound on his arm.

"Damn!" Arthur can handle the pain, but he feels something corroding his wound, trying to invade his body. 'It's poison!' Nyx exclaims in his mind, but Arthur remains calm; he knows that his mother is nearby, so all he wants now is to try to defeat the two Elites, and then he can rely on Aria's care.

But as soon as he turns around, he notices that they are already on top of him, both moving like white blurs. *Swoosh* *Whoosh* They separate in the middle of the charge, each attacking from one side to confuse their target.

"You're done, kid!" One of them comments, swinging his sword towards Arthur while the other has a dagger in each hand. "But you fought well."

Arthur can read their movements, but this time, his mind can't find a good solution; his reaction speed is not fast enough to deal with both attacks of two Elites. Yet, he can't give up, so he chooses a main target to focus on, 'The one with the daggers!' Arthur wants to avoid the poison and tries to deal with that enemy first.

He doesn't hold back and already swings his sword charged with Intent in a powerful diagonal slash. *WHOOONG* When the old man sees the bluish-black glow on Arthur's blade, he realizes that he underestimated him.

'It can't be, another time?!?' He didn't expect Arthur to be able to use another attack of that level so early, and as he is in the air, in the middle of his dash, he can only twist his body in an attempt to avoid having his body bisected by the slash.

The man has a really quick reaction speed due to over a hundred years of experience, so he manages to avoid his death by a few centimeters, but Arthur's sword wave hits his shoulder, tearing off his arm and injuring part of his torso. *THUD* He falls to the ground and rolls in his own blood.

That attack had a high cost for Arthur, who coughs off a mouthful of blood due to the effort. *Splut* He feels his body become heavy and his senses numb at the worst time, just when the other Elite is attacking his back.

Arthur knows he can't avoid the attack, so he at least tries to prevent it from hitting his head. *Snikt* The Elite's blade is not as sharp as Arthur's, but due to his strength, it cuts through his tunic, opening a large wound just below the back of his neck.

"Fuck!" Arthur is sent to the ground due to the force of the attack, his body also suffering from exhaustion and the poison from the dagger that is quickly corroding his internal defenses.

"NOOOO!!!" Alicia roars furiously, her voice echoing for miles. Aria doesn't hold her back this time, so she jumps towards Arthur, covering the distance of hundreds of meters in a second as if she teleported.

*Whooosh-BOOOM* She lands on top of the Elite swordsman like a mountain falling from the sky, her boot crushing the man's head before he could understand how he died.

Alicia's landing makes a crater in the ground and raises a cloud of dust. Arthur, still on the ground, tries to see what is happening, but before he can get up, a figure emerges in front of him. He attempts to defend himself, but then the figure turns out to be a beautiful woman who extends her hand to him with a loving smile on her face. "Great job, Arthur!"

"Who ar-" He becomes confused because the woman knows his name, but she acts quickly by holding his arm and pulling him up as he stumbles to his knees. "Your aunt," she speaks in a loving and excited tone. "You can call me Auntie Alicia, my good nephew!" She gently dusts off Arthur's clothes, leaving him surprised as he struggles to stand up.

While he deals with the shock of having such a beautiful aunt, Aria appears floating from the sky, her expression painted with shades of pride and worry. "I'm sorry, baby~ I wanted to help you earlier, but I didn't want to take away your fun." She speaks as she quickly begins to heal his wounds.

"I'm fine," He smiles at his mother but then sees the body of the destroyed Elite swordsman in a pool of blood and guts in the center of the crater. He looks again at Alicia, who continues to smile at him. "Are you really my aunt?"

"She's my little sister!" Draven speaks in a loud tone and is clearly upset as he approaches them.

Margaret also runs out of the tavern to check on Arthur's situation, she really wanted to have helped him earlier but feared that getting involved in the fight would only bring problems for him. But now, seeing Aria there, she runs towards him. "Arthur!!!"

Arthur is confused at the center of attention; he doesn't know who to focus his attention on, his head hurts due to the effort, and his body aches due to the last blow he suffered. "Father…" Yet, his eyes are instinctively drawn to Draven.

"Stupid boy, look at the mess you made-" Draven yells at Arthur, but then Margaret steps in front of him and blocks his path. "None of this is his fault! He was just defending me!!!"

"Don't get involved in this, girl-" Draven asks Margaret, but the large blade of Alicia's red and golden halberd immediately appears in front of him, no longer covered with the black cloth and shining brightly.

It has a long, thin shaft of reddish metal with a sharp golden talon at one end and a large axe blade before a spear point on the other side. A perfect union of a great axe and a heavy spear, a weapon almost impossible to wield well, except for someone with as much strength as skill like Alicia, of course.

Draven frowns when he sees those ladies protecting Arthur like some kind of heavenly treasure. "Come on, I saw everything, Arthur didn't need-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Aria speaks, her voice sounding like thunder, carrying all the power of her aura and making Draven take a step back.

Arthur feels bad for being the cause of his parents fighting again, but then Alicia picks up his sword from the ground and approaches him, still smiling lovingly. "Here," She hands the sword to him pointing it to the still alive Elite, the one he wounded earlier. "Finish him," Alicia says in a gentle tone. "After all, he is your prey."

"This..." Arthur can see Draven shaking his head, but Alicia ignores her brother, putting the sword in Arthur's hand. "Your father doesn't know anymore what it means to protect one's family, but you do, so keep your hand and conviction firm, whatever it takes."

Arthur can't help but glance at Margaret, who is smiling at him with bright eyes. He turns his attention back to Alicia and nods. "Whatever it takes," He takes the sword and walks towards the old man, who tries to stumble to his feet.

Arthur doesn't feel any need to hide his dark and cruel side anymore; he would like to get along with his father, but not if it means being kind to their enemies. 'No... people like these don't deserve to live.' His eyes glow coldly as he raises his sword.

"No, please!" The old man begs in a pool of his own blood. "It wasn't my fault; my job is to defend my Young Master!!" He raises his still-good arm, but Arthur doesn't spare him, bringing down his blade on the old man, severing his arm and cutting his chest, giving him a quick but painful death.

Draven curses, but Aria, Margaret, and Alicia don't feel any pity for that man; they just keep looking at Arthur with loving and proud expressions.

Arthur pulls his blade from the old man's chest and casts his gaze towards young Master Lark, the only one still alive from his group. The poor guy is paralyzed with fear, especially after seeing Alicia descend from the sky like a War Goddess. "No, no, this can't be happening!!" He gets up and runs towards his horse that ran into the forest. "Stay away from me!!!"

Aria gestures with her fingers, and the young Master is suspended in the air. "No! No!!! What do you want from me?!?" He screams hysterically while Aria makes him float back.

The black glow reappears in Arthur's eyes as he remembers what that guy said he would do to his sweet Margaret, making his blood boil in his veins. But Arthur manages to calm down; after all, he didn't allow that guy to touch her.

Now, he begins to think more about the consequences of killing the young Master and less about his desire to make the guy suffer. "Maybe we should let him go?" Arthur looks at Aria, seeking her opinion.

But before she can answer, Alicia speaks first. "No way!" She approaches Arthur and puts her hand on his shoulder. "This guy is the one who gave the order for his men to attack you; he is the one who should suffer the most for attacking our family."

"I know, but I don't want to cause trouble for Margaret's parents and the people in the village in the future," Arthur explains, but Alicia insists. "If you're apprehensive about this scum's family coming to look for trouble, we can simply go to Lakeview and show them their place; rats should not rise against lions."

"Oh," Arthur is not surprised by Alicia's prideful character; after all, she is Draven's sister. But her pride works differently from his father's; while one is more concerned with his own ego, the other thinks first of the family's well-being. 'She is so cool.' Arthur can't help but like his aunt Alicia.

"Rats should not rise against lions..." Arthur repeats out loud. He likes how that sounds, not because it feeds his ego but because of the meaning Alicia has used it with. 'Being a lion doesn't seem bad at all.'

"Exactly, my dear nephew," Alicia laughs as she strokes Arthur's hair. She is the same height as him but seems a little taller because of her high boots. "We are the lions, and as long as we stick united, no one can touch our beloved ones."