City of Desire [Kingdom Building] - Chapter 874: Death For Death

Proofread by Thomas F
Aya Bandstone
Their eyes widened, feeling the same way I did, not daring to believe it had happened.
I had awakened, Aura.
I had sensed many awakenings in the battle of Greltheaven. A lot of powerful officers and important powerhouses had awakened it, but I did not think I would.
My enemies also didn’t think it would happen, judging by the shock on their faces.
Most of the people who awaken the aura are Lv. 30 and above, with extensive experience.
The exceptions are rare, but in Greltheaven, they seemed to have become almost common. Still, despite that, even in my dreams, I had not thought that I would be able to do it before even reaching Lv. 30.
“Idiot!” cursed Brewtan angrily, looking at the assassin who taunted me. There is a clear blame in his eyes; I would have felt the same if I had been in his place.
“It is still four to one,” replied the assassin defensively, before all four of them came at me once more.
I felt the aura, gentle but also capable of turning into a storm and destroying everything.
I tried to hold it, but how can one hold the air? I was planning to push it with my will, but then I remembered something. So, instead of forcing it, like I wanted to, I nudged it gently, and it worked.
Not all the aura moved, barely a fraction of it, but they said that was enough for the first time.
There were seminars for the officers, captains, and above, held by General Hiren and other high-ranking Generals about the aura.
They explained a few things to us about it: how to fight the person who awakened it and what to do when we awaken it, especially in battle.
The method they asked us to use was the gentle flow method.
Gentle is not the work one would think in the battle where everything is intense, but they seemed very sure of it.
The aura reached my skills, with me focusing on the two at risk the most. Natural Healing and Reinforced Bone. My condition is getting worse; these two could help me stabilise it.
As it reached the skill, I gathered all my will and began to push the aura inside them.
The gentle method is to move the aura, but to push it into the skill, one needs to use brute force. One needs sufficient control to move into it without resistance.
Without it, force was the only option, and I used it.
My aura stopped, hit by the wall of resistance, but I tried immediately. My condition is getting worse, and another attack is coming toward me.
I cannot let anything stop me when I finally have hope.
So, I gathered all my will and pushed my aura into the skills. This time, it worked, and just as it went inside, I saw their power increasing.
Not only that, but their wild shaking also subsided a little.
It surprised me, but I didn’t have time to be surprised. I immediately nudged the aura into the other skills before pushing inside it while moving to respond to the enemies.
I defended Brewtan’s attack with my shield while clashing against the assassin with the blade.
As I did, I moved with steel steps, barely avoiding the attack of the second assassin, but the third one struck me on the waist.
“So what, if you have awakened the aura? You will suffer the same fate as the headless body,” mocked the assassins. I didn’t say anything and focused on the aura and my aura.
“Shut up!” cursed Brewtan, before attacking me once more with the assassins, while I responded immediately, pushing more aura into my skills.
Earlier, the increase was slight; it’s not enough.
As the assassins said, they will kill me unless I am able to harness considerable power from the aura, and I have to, if I want to survive.
I will, I finally got the way to survive, and I will be damned if I waste it.
Our blades clashed, but the assassin was still able to cut. They cut me again and again as weapons clashed, while I was trying to push more and more aura into the skills.
My strength is increasing, and due to two skills, my condition has stopped getting worse.
I am still in torturous pain, but it is something I am familiar with and bear. Still, I will need to further strengthen my skills, especially in Natural Healing.
My body is riddled with injuries, and I am losing blood every second. I need healing.
Seconds passed, and I kept defending, while pushing more and more aura into my skills, making my attack and defence faster and stronger at every hit.
One of them still hit me, but the cuts are lighter and shallower. Their attacks didn’t shake me as much as they used to before.
Minutes passed, and I kept fighting, pushing more and more aura into the skill. Now and then, I would look at my men and be relieved to see they were holding the line.
My injuries are increasing, but I am stopping everything from collapsing, pushing more and more aura into my skills.
Once more, they attacked, and I moved my shield and sword to defend. They tried something different, but as always, I defended, while moving and dodging the attack.
I evaded the first, and for the second, I suddenly stopped, took a step back, and sidestepped the attack.
It surprised them and me. For the first time, I had dodged and defended all four attacks. However, it was short-lived, as the next second, the assassin cut me again.
After that, I was able to dodge the attack and the one after.
For three and a half seconds, no attack touched my body before I cut across the leg again, and after that, I dodged the attacks for eleven seconds more.
Time passed, and I am getting more familiar with the aura, pushing more and more into it.
Now, it had been half a minute, and not a single attack had cut my body. It is hard, there is a torturous pain all over my body, and my head feels like it is split open at any moment, but I am fighting, holding the pain.
This is what matters the most.
I defended another attack when I saw Brewtan’s expression turn sour. I don’t know what happened. They trapped me in a spell, but they also cut my communication with the outside.
I don’t know what is happening, but seeing his expression turn, I know it’s a good thing for me.
Though the next moment, their expressions turned sombre, and they attacked. The attack seemed different; there was a hurry in their eyes and movements that had not been seen before.
Even their attacks are slightly stronger, only slightly. Since they are already using everything they have against me.
I dodged them, all of their attacks. It made their expressions even worse.
“Try harder. It would be humiliating if four of you couldn’t even deal with someone like me despite such a massive advantage,” I taunted using Taunt.
“Bitch, I will kill you!” Assassin roared and came at me, without following the formation they were using.
I looked at him mockingly and dodged his attack, before defending the two that came after and avoiding the last one, before doing the same once more.
A minute passed, and I had become better at dodging their attacks.
I have understood their skills, combat style, and limitations. Still, every defence and dodging is a challenge, with me tethered at the edge.
The only reason I had not collapsed was because of the aura
Even with the aid of an aura, I am fighting for my life. Every second, their attacks came so close to me that a few inches more and it’s over.
So, I kept pushing and pushing, just as they are pushing themselves to kill me.
Time passed, and the attacks kept coming, when suddenly surprise appeared on Brewtan’s face. I took a step forward and moved my sword toward him.
I did both things before, but never together.
Our blades moved closer, and when they were about to clash. I took a sudden left at the speed I had not shown, and I could move.
I had been pushing aura into Steel Steps, but for one and a half minutes, I had been holding back that increase.
I dodged his blade and assassins, while my sword clashed with an assassin on the right. Shield moved toward the upper-left.
I pushed every bit of aura into my shield skill, pushed aura into it until my orifices began to bleed.
The speed of my arm is not as fast as before, but there is so much power in the skill, and I kept pushing more aura into it. I have been waiting for this chance, and I am not going to lose it.
“Herme, dodge!” shouted Brewtan, and the assassin hesitated, but didn’t pull his dagger back, until a moment later, when he finally seemed to sense the power of the skill.
He pulled his dagger back, but it was already too late.
My shield touched his dagger, and he tried to stop it, but it’s like a feather trying to stop the wind. My shield moved back and reached his body, and it released the power of the skill when it finally touched his head.
Shield Bash!
A deafening crash rang out, and behind it, a crunching sound, before he crashed into the spell wall hard.
I don’t know if I killed the bastard. He had killed Borla, and I wanted to take my revenge from that moment. It is something that drove me to push myself so hard.
I didn’t have a chance to celebrate as the two assassins attacked me. I dodged one, but the second one cut across my neck.
A little bit deeper, and I would have finished.
I turned to Brewtan and saw him looking at me, eyes calm, but a moment later, rage burst through them. He was controlling it, but seeing what I did, he could not.
“I will kill you!” he roared in fury and came at me, with something powerful bursting out of him at his first step.
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