Chapter 117: Guildmaster Karna
While the most common type of swordsman was a single sword wielder, in the modern day and age, dual wielders focusing purely on offense were not too rare either.
Since Karna was a guild master, often needing to yell commands in battle, in a vast majority of his fights, he only used the dual wielding style, however, on rare occasions, when he actually got serious about a fight, he preferred going beyond the two sword fighting style and adding a third sword to it.
Biting into a mouth sword, made with a custom handle according to his teeth shape, Karna transitioned from being a dual sword wielder to a triple sword one, only when he was ready to put his life on the line.
Neatwit and the other core guild members understood that once Karna took up his third sword, he was ready to break ranks and that from that moment onwards, Neatwit was to step in as the acting guild master.
Back when Karna and Neatwit were only starting the guild, Karna had promised Neatwit that he would only ever go three-sword style in the most desperate situations, however, today as he saw the God Cassius screaming and begging for his life, Karna knew that he had to step in.
Earth had no hope of defeating the Lich if the God Cassius died, however, crossing past the front lines, through the buffer zone, the minefield and into the heart of enemy forces alone was nothing short of suicidal.
Karna knew that once he jumped into the fray to help Cassius, the chances of him coming back out alive were slim to none, which was why he bit into the third sword and decided to give this last fight his all.
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( Present moment )
The moment the Lich screamed in frustration at Karna snapping one of Cassius's chains, hordes of undead champions, durahals and other strong undead rushed towards his location with the intention to kill him.
"Hold them off, I need a few more seconds to deal with this damn chain" Cassius said to Karna, in a voice that seemed more like a desperate plea than a command as Karna said nothing in response, but chose to focus on the fight at hand.
The undead surged forward in waves, a relentless torrent of bone and decay. But Karna responded equally ferociously, turning into a whirlwind of steel and fury.
As the first of the undead reached him, Karna's swords flashed brilliantly. The blade in his right hand swept horizontally, cleaving through the brittle bones of a durahal, scattering its remains like dust in the wind.
Simultaneously, his left sword plunged forward, piercing through the chest of a ghoulish champion, its deathly wail silenced as the sword's tip exited its back. Yet it was the sword held in his mouth that truly terrified the enemy as with a ferocious turn of his head, Karna decapitated another approaching undead, its head flying off into the darkening sky.
His movements were fluid yet brutally efficient as with each twist and turn of his body, Karna declared his unwillingness to yield and showcased his raw battle talent.
Soon, the ground around him became littered with the remnants of the undead, but they kept coming at him endlessly as if driven by some unholy will.
Karna moved through the hordes with an almost ethereal grace, his three swords slicing through the air, each strike bringing down multiple enemies, as he covered for not only himself, but for Cassius as well who was taking his sweet time in preparing the spell that could finally free him.
[ Holy Lance ]
Cassius eventually casted a tier5 spell, as a beam of light shot out of his palms and broke the last chain dragging him, as he finally became free from the effects of Hell's Gate.
*SCREEEECH*
The Lich, looking on from a distance, screeched in anger when his Hell's Gate was neutralized, as his voice was like a sonic attack that made weaker humans feel dizzy and disoriented a kilometer away.
"It's done! I'm free-" Cassius said in joy, as he threw a glance towards Karna who had been protecting him against endless hordes of enemies for the last 80 seconds.
Breathing heavily and covered in light scratches throughout his body, Karna looked like an extremely ferocious fighter at the moment as the second Cassius gazed into his eyes, he could see nothing except for pure bloodlust.
"How dare you dirty undead dare lay a hand on my savior" Cassius said, as he raised both his hands towards the sky and casted yet another powerful spell.
[ Flaming Vortex ]
Originating from his palms, a vortex of flames slowly covered the area beside himself and Karna as slowly but surely it's range of attack spread, turning all the undead unlucky enough to come in its path to dust.
In just a moment, Cassius wiped out the battlefield for a 50 meter radius around himself and Karna as he achieved what Karna could not in the past 80 seconds in just five.
'So this is the difference between a mortal and a lesser god….' Karna wondered in his head as this was the first time he got to witness the gap between himself and a lesser god in a practical combat scenario.
'I want this power….. I want this power so bad' Karna muttered in his head as his grip over his third sword tightened.
He had been stuck on floor 56 for over three months now and although floor 60 was not that far away, climbing each floor now seemed like a difficult job.
'I was too lazy ….. if I had unilaterally focused on getting stronger, I could have gotten it by now.
No more... I need to survive here today and correct my mistakes' Karna resolved as he decapitated yet another undead rushing his way.
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/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the GT Target, good job everyone! ///