Chapter 19 – Fierce Struggle

The saber of Aiden left the sheath and the boars bellowed to express anger.

A total of eleven boars were surrounding the strange stone. Two of them were at the initial core-fusing stage and three of the nine remaining were just a step away from it. As for the remaining six, all of them were at the peak core-forming.

Different from normal giant boars, the ones in the core-fusing stage had black lines running through their brown hides. It together with their red eyes made them look even more sinister.

The boars stepped forward slowly and tried to surround the group to attack from various directions. Aiden, already predicting it, had already put his back against a tree together with Lia.

Though the tree was unable to stop the charge of a boar if they were determined to destroy it, it could at least give them an instant of respite to move to a different place.

Grasping the saber with both hands, Aiden spoke to Lia while paying attention to the boars’ movements.

“Lia, when the moment comes I will take care of the ones in the core fusing stage while you distract the others. Stick to the plan and act when it’s time.”

“Yes!” Answered her firmly.

Drawing a deep breath, Aiden prepared himself. Then, waiting for the moment when the boars will attack, closed his eyes.

The boars continued walking slowly, trying surround the group. Though the number of beasts this time was lesser than two nights ago, in reality, their combat strength was probably greater. After all, different from the first group what only used their greats numbers to try overwhelming the opponent, the current boars had enough strength to fight them directly.

The boars seemed to be conscious of it too. So, they simply circled the pair while closing slowly towards them.

When the boars were fifteen meters away though, they stopped in place. It was because Aiden’s saber intent covered them impeding them of simply continue walking lest them to be attacked.

For a moment both groups were in a stalemate. The boars were surrounding the pair waiting for the moment to charge while Aiden was holding his saber with the eyes closed and Lia was waiting behind him.

The stalemate, however, only lasted a moment. One of the peak core-forming boars finally was unable to endure the tension and charged.

With the tusks pointed forward, the boar charged with a speed almost untraceable for normal humans and an unimaginable level of strength behind it. But, before being able of touching Aiden, the saber intent erupted even more, and a powerful blow was delivered without Aiden opening his eyes.

The boar, unafraid, tried to parry it with its tusks and continue advancing, only to feel a sharp pain near its mouth and retreat urgently. A line of blood appeared in the mouth, Aiden, following the momentum of the anterior attack, swung his saber, intent on delivering the final blow.

At that moment, however, another boar charged from the side, forcing him to evade to not be impacted.

Frowning his brows, Aiden finally opened his eyes. Looking at the two boars, Aiden only inclined his saber slightly to the right before erupting with an equally strong blow, only to be interrupted for another beast charging again.

The remaining giant boars, seeing three of their companions already attacking, joined the fray decisively. With exception of the two core-fusing beasts, all the boars attacked the pair.

Brandishing constantly his saber, Aiding furrowed his brows seeing himself unable of landing a decisive blow. Though he was able to hurt some of the boars, the others were always able to interfere before he could land a decisive blow.

Similarly, though, the boars were unable of touching Aiden. Different from the last fight where he was forced to defend Lia, this time Aiden was concentrated in avoiding the boars’ attacks.

Before the fight, Lia told Aiden to not worry about her and concentrate simply on fighting. Thanks to it, Aiden was able to show the true strength of his saber arts. Even when being attacked from nine different enemies, Aiden was able to move unimpeded and attack in the process; and though the fight seemed in a stalemate, the truth was that Aiden was constantly gaining the advantage. The problem, though, was the two boars observing the fight.

Knowing it was no good extend the fight for a long time, Aiden decisively jumped back and moved his saber in an overhead posture.

“Lia!”

“Un!”

Hearing Aiden’s cry, Lia only nodded before moving her hands softly.

The boars, seeing Aiden retreating, charged together towards him fiercely. Strangely, the boars seemed to ignore the presence of Lia even now and only were concentrated in attacking Aiden.

According to Lia, after awakening that night she gained a strange ability. Though it was impossible for an enemy to completely ignore her, with this ability they normally would ignore her if another target was nearby. She said it was apparently because they were unable to lock her presence perfectly, though Aiden wasn’t sure what it means.

Aiden maintained his posture even when the boars were charging towards him. Then, when the boars were two meters away, he finally took a step forward and brandished the weapon towards the weaker one.

The boar tried to parry the attack using its tusk, but a thread appeared and prevented it from moving leaving it vulnerable to the attack. All the other beast, seeing the attack about to kill their companion, tried come in its rescue, only to be stopped for white threads appearing imperceptibly around them.

Though the threads were unable of stopping the beasts for a long time, an instant was all Aiden needed. Leaving the weapon to descend, the saber intent exploded and cut the flesh of the beast cleanly, leaving only a corpse divided evenly in two.

ROARRRRR!!!!

Seeing the blade killing one of them, the giant boars seemed to become berserk. Even the two beasts observing the fight roared angrily while releasing killing intent.

Aiden tried to take advantage of the opportunity to kill another of the beast, but one of the stronger peak core-forming beasts was able to break the bindings and charged against him crazily.

Left with no option but avoiding, Aiden decisively jumped back and augmented the distance between the beasts and him. The boars, now free from the threats, also paused their attacked and retreated slightly.

At that moment, the two core-fusing beasts finally seemed unable to endure entering the fight. Moving slowly forward, they stood slightly in front the other beats.

ROARRRRR!!!!

A strong bellow was emitted from the mouth of one, stunning Aiden slightly, then, not waiting for Aiden recuperate, both beasts charged savagely.

Aiden quickly stepped at a side and tried avoiding the first blow, only for the other appear before him with the tusks forward. Left without another option, he could only use his saber to try parrying the attack.

But different than before, the strength of this attack was unexpectedly immense. Aiden found himself retreating two steps before being able of redirecting the hit, but the attack of the other beast was already before him again.

Aiden awkwardly avoided the charge and retreated even more. The remaining boars, seeing the situation, charged towards him.

“Lia!!!”

Shouting with all his strength, Aiden gave Lia the signal seeing that all the boars were finally attacking together. Instantly, countless white threads filled the surroundings.

The threads were like millions of living serpents constricting their preys. All the boars were surrounded, completely unable of moving. With exception of the two strongest, all the beasts were surrounded with thousand and thousand of fine threads restricting their movements.

The two core-fusing beasts finally looked towards Lia, as if finally sensing her existence, and tried charging towards her. However, in that instant, Aiden used all his strength to brandish the saber. Using the blunt part of the blade, Aiden send the two unprepared beasts flying, though the protective film on them helped them to prevent a wound.

“Young master! Hurry up! I cannot maintain it longer than five seconds!”

Hearing the hurried cry of Lia, Aiden sprinted with all his strength towards the stone in the middle.

Yes, from the beginning Aiden and Lia weren’t trying to kill all the beast. In the end, as Aiden said, the probability of it being a trap was too great, so Aiden and Lia decided to attack to attract the attention of the beasts and try to take the sealed soul with them, before retreating and thinking about the next step. From the beginning, their goal was the sealed soul.

The two core-fusing beast, seeing Aiden running toward the black stone, roared and tried desperately stop him. But unfortunately, they were too far from him and were unable of doing something.

Seeing the situation developing according to his plan, Aiden could not help but accelerate excitedly before extending his hand to take the stone.

But in that instant, a sensation of deadly crisis filled him with alarm. Opening his eyes wide, Aiden could only see how tens of black and translucid tentacles extended from the black stone and grabbed towards him.

Scared, Aiden tried retreating only to feel an enormous pressure surrounding him. Then, without allowing an opportunity for his escape, the tentacles surrounded him.