Chapter 32: Another Ability

Caelan barely managed to turn around before another sword came swinging toward him. He immediately raised his weapon, blocking the attack just inches away from his face.

*CLANG!

"Fuck!"

His arms shook from the impact. Before he could push the attacker away, another person rushed toward him from the side. Caelan quickly pulled his sword back and jumped away, causing the second blade to miss him by only a few inches.

He didn’t even have time to catch his breath. Another attacker came from behind, followed by another from the opposite direction. It was as if the moment the first two died, the rest had completely stopped holding back on him.

"Caelan!" Eveline screamed.

"I know!"

Caelan didn’t even know what he was responding to anymore. There were weapons coming at him from almost every direction. He swung his sword whenever someone got too close, forcing them backward, but it was obvious they were far more experienced than him.

One of the men suddenly lunged forward. Caelan raised his sword and blocked the attack, only for another attacker to kick him directly in the stomach.

"Urgh!"

His body flew backward and crashed against the side of the carriage. Pain immediately shot through his back, but it disappeared quickly thanks to his Life Thread.

Caelan barely had time to realize that before one of the attackers rushed toward him.

"Shit!"

He tried raising his sword, but another man suddenly came from the side and swung at his arm. Caelan managed to pull away before the blade could cut him, but that small movement left his entire front exposed.

The first attacker immediately took advantage of it. Caelan’s eyes widened when he saw the sword coming directly toward his chest. There was no time to dodge.

*STAB!

"ARGH!"

The sword pierced straight through his chest.

"CAELAN!" Eveline’s scream echoed through the road.

Caelan’s entire body froze.

For a moment, he couldn’t hear anything else. His eyes slowly moved downward, and there it was. A sword was buried deep inside his chest, with blood already spreading across his clothes.

The pain was unlike anything he had felt since arriving in this world.

’Fuck...’

The attacker twisted the sword before violently pulling it free.

Blood immediately poured from the wound. Caelan’s knees almost gave out as his hand instinctively moved toward his chest. His breathing became difficult, and his vision blurred almost immediately.

The attacker in front of him stepped backward as if he had won. He didn’t attack again thinking that there was no need to. The blade had gone directly through Caelan’s chest. From his perspective, the fight was already over.

The other man seemed to think the same thing. His posture relaxed slightly as he looked at Caelan, waiting for his body to collapse.

And honestly, Caelan thought he was about to do exactly that. However, warmth suddenly spread through his chest.

[Ding!]

[Life Thread Protection is in progress.]

A faint light appeared beneath Caelan’s blood-covered hand. The pain that had nearly overwhelmed him suddenly started disappearing as the wound rapidly closed underneath his clothes.

Caelan gasped.

[Fatal damage has been prevented.]

[Life Thread connection has been severed.]

[Protection Effect: Inactive.]

The warmth disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Caelan immediately understood what had happened.

It was the Phase 2 of the Life Thread that saved him. He couldn’t help but be thankful at that.

However, his connection with Eveline was gone now. If another sword went through his chest, there wouldn’t be a second miracle waiting for him.

But the two men standing in front of him didn’t know that.

They still thought he was dying so Caelan slowly kneeled on the ground, keeping his body close to the two guys. Caelan’s hand tightened around the handle of his shadow sword as he kept a close eye on them.

The first attacker had already lowered his weapon and the rest even turned their attention toward Eveline and the driver, as if Caelan was no longer worth worrying about.

However, that was their biggest mistake.

The moment they completely forgot about him, Caelan moved. He pushed himself off the ground and swung his sword with everything he had.

*SLASH!

The shadow blade cut deeply across the man’s back.

"What?!"

The attacker barely managed to turn his head before Caelan swung again, this time cutting across his chest. His eyes widened in disbelief as blood immediately spread across his black clothing. He collapsed.

The sudden attack caught everyone completely off guard.

"What the hell?!" one of the other men shouted.

Even Eveline and the driver stared at Caelan in shock.

"C-Caelan...?" Eveline muttered.

Caelan didn’t stop at that. He knew this was probably the only chance he would get. The remaining attackers were still trying to understand how someone who had just been stabbed directly through the chest was suddenly standing again.

So Caelan rushed toward the closest one. The man reacted and raised his sword, but he was a second too late.

Caelan’s shadow sword slammed against his weapon.

*CLANG!

The attacker stumbled backward from the sudden force. Caelan immediately followed him, swinging again before the man could properly regain his balance.

*SLASH!

"ARGH!"

Caelan’s sword cut across his stomach.

The man stumbled backward, one hand immediately moving toward the wound. Caelan didn’t give him the chance to recover. He stepped forward and drove the shadow sword straight through his chest just like what he did to him.

The man’s body stiffened before Caelan pulled the sword free.

[Kill the people who will go your way (4/8)]

Caelan barely even looked at the notification.

There was another one.

The third attacker was about to attack him with a dagger, but he was already expecting it. Caelan turned just as the man swung. He moved his head to the side, the dagger passed dangerously close to his face.

"Fuck!" Caelan immediately grabbed the man’s wrist with his free hand.

The attacker tried pulling away, but Caelan held on and drove his knee directly into the man’s stomach.

"Urgh!"

The man’s body bent forward. Caelan released his wrist, stepped to the side, and swung his sword.

*SLASH!

The blade cut across the man’s side.

He screamed and stumbled, as Caelan thrust his sword forward Blood splashed everywhere, tainting the ground and his clothes.

[Kill the people who will go your way (5/8)]

Caelan stood there breathing heavily. His hands were trembling. His clothes and skin were covered in blood, and his entire body felt like it had been beaten repeatedly.

"Caelan..." Eveline’s voice came from behind him.

He glanced toward her.

Eveline was staring at him with wide eyes. Even the driver looked completely speechless at what they were witnessing.

A small smile appeared on his lips before he pulled back. His eyes immediately moved toward the remaining three attackers.

Unlike the others, they hadn’t rushed toward him. They were standing several meters away as if just waiting. They must have thought that the 5 onew were enough to kill him earlier.

Caelan tightened his grip around his sword. But as he looked at them, he realized something strange. Two of the men were standing in front with their weapons drawn, but the third was a step behind them.

Wait... Caelan’s eyes narrowed.

Caelan thought back to everything that had happened since the fight started. While everyone else was attacking him, this man at the back remained in almost the exact same place.

What the hell is he doing?

Caelan focused on him.

Then suddenly...

[Ding!]

A blue screen appeared directly in front of Caelan.

[Foreign ability detected.]

[Ability detected: Mind Control]

[Mind Control - Allows the user to influence and control the actions of a targeted individual under certain conditions.]

[Do you want to use 1 Hollow Fragment to acquire this ability?]

’What?’ Caelan froze.

[Yes / No]