Edward quickly noticed that not only did he have extraordinary strength and heightened senses, but also astonishing sword technique.
Its movements were precise and powerful, too well thought out and carefully chosen. They were not the senseless movements typical of most undead he had seen; they were real movements of exquisite sword technique.
Although his natural talent for the sword was astonishing and he had trained occasionally, he had to tip his hat to this little Wight's ability.
For a brief moment, the repeated sword strikes and the immense number of "miraculous" parries from both of them had overwhelmed him.
Perhaps the Wight had no talent for swordsmanship, but it could boast of being one of the best-trained swordsmen Edward had ever seen in his life.
Its movements, fast, precise, and powerful, did not cease.
In the midst of the fight, Edward was forced to take the last pill...
And so, 15 minutes passed.
When the fight stopped, they looked each other in the face.
Edward was sweating, and because of the wounds on his body, it looked like he was sweating blood.
But the Wight also had wounds all over its body. Both were surprised by their opponent.
Both had gone in for the kill, looking to attack weaknesses and land critical hits... but none of that worked.
Their bodies were locked in combat until Edward forced them apart.
He couldn't go on like this.
'A prolonged battle is impossible when it costs me money I no longer have,' he thought.
The problem was that he had been looking for a way to kill this guy for quite some time, but hadn't found one. The Wight hadn't even used its firepower yet, so he couldn't have his caterpillar slowly weaken it while he pressed down on it.
Besides, its core was very well protected.
'I have to force it to use all its strength,' he thought.
The Wight was already wounded all over its body, just like him, so it shouldn't be long before it fell.
Edward's only advantage was his peripheral vision, which had allowed him to dodge a few more attacks than the Wight.
He had to use it; it was the only way to win. Moving away from this area or trying to break trees to trick it would have been ideal, but if he did, he would die sooner rather than later, surrounded by hundreds of level 1 and 2 beasts.
He gripped his sword tightly and rushed towards him. This time, with more momentum in his movement.
CLANK!
The first blow of the sword carried all his weight; he managed to push the Wight hard and destabilize him. At that moment, Edward launched a second attack downward, cutting him on one side.
His sword danced in his hand. Each attack was a movement in his dance, as if to the sound of a fighting melody.
The Wight was not far behind, its attacks also falling upon him, more so than the previous time... but the Wight quickly noticed something.
Its intelligence kicked in when it realized that it was taking many more hits than normal in just one minute.
That made it think deeply, and it noticed it in no time. The way its enemy's eyes moved, coupled with the dance of his body that allowed him to dodge most of its attacks...
He understood immediately.
He was using his amazing peripheral vision to avoid most of his blows. He no longer needed to defend because he didn't. If he could dodge more attacks than he threw, maybe he could win faster.
The Wight understood that his enemy had run out of time... although perhaps it itself didn't understand what that meant.
So it decided to hold out. They were evenly matched in many ways, but its biggest advantage was that it wasn't bleeding. Even though it was wounded, it would last longer than its opponent.
Edward was determined that this had to be his last attack. And when the Wight began to defend itself more, Edward smiled to himself.
He didn't know how smart this guy was, but... he was waiting for it to do that.
He had less than 40 minutes left and still had a long way to go from here to the entrance... he had to win!
He had already obtained two of the three heads he needed; he couldn't fail now.
And the opportunity to do so presented itself on a silver platter.
His attacks became more frantic, and since he didn't have to dodge too much, he took less and less damage.
Suddenly, he was so focused on attacking that he forgot to dodge for a brief moment. His body instinctively sensed an attack coming his way, and his hair stood on end as he dodged to the side, moving his body more than he should have allowed himself to.
His opponent's sword hit him right in the corner of his eye... it was trying to blind him. To avoid his attack and prevent him from using his precise vision, it had to blind him!
But the attack missed his eye by a few centimeters, instead tearing the skin on one side, squinting his eye.
"Bastard!" Edward stamped his foot and swung his sword horizontally forward.
CLANK!
Both swords locked together, but Edward's slid over the Wight's sword as it burst into flames.
'Shit.' Edward was forced to jump backward, dodging a powerful attack.
But his body fell to the ground, and the attack continued to rain down on him as the Wight found the window to make decisive attacks.
He had to roll on the ground and jump to dodge several attacks.
'A Magic Swordsman?' He thought in shock.
The way it used fire was unlike that of a normal Wight; it was using the Magic Network!
Among the subcategories of specialization that a Beast Master can take, that of a magic swordsman is one of the most powerful for those who use swords.
It's not necessarily powerful; if used poorly, it's a death sentence, because you don't have anything to attack with from a distance, like most Beast Masters.
But if used well... it could be deadly.
And he understood it at that very moment. Some of his hair was burned, but fortunately, he managed to dodge the deadly attacks.
And he was still not at a disadvantage.
The Wight made the decision to attack brutally in that manner when it was already seriously injured. That's why every attack was difficult for it; it was clearly not at its full capacity. Although it managed to burn Edward, it wasn't that serious.
This guy had judged that it had made a mistake by defending itself exclusively, since its enemy had overcome that defense. That's why it tried to be more proactive.
But its proactivity came too late.
And Edward would let him know it.
After dodging the initial attacks, Edward managed to regain a temporary but sufficient position of superiority. His sword flew at high speed in a complicated direction, seeking either to cut off the Wight's head or to strike its sword in an awkward position.
CLANK!
The impact in the Wight's sword was what happened. The Wight's arm was violently shaken, temporarily rendering it unable to defend itself.
Long enough.
Edward launched a series of powerful attacks against its chest, attacking it frantically. His sword did not stop for a second.
At the same time, the caterpillar appeared on the Wight's sword and began to devour the delicious fire. No one knew when it had gotten there, but its ability to move and devour had increased.
Even more so now that it was excited about its new, growing wings.
[You have killed a Level 10 Wight of Death.]
[Fire Caterpillar has gained 260 Experience Points.]
A smile formed on his face, and his attack stopped, ending with a clean decapitation. The Wight's head was gripped tightly in his hand, though he smiled and fell to the ground, in pain.
"Damn, that was a tough battle." He smiled.
He felt proud. He had managed to defeat a Level 10 Wight in a head-on battle. Moreover, not just any Wight, but one as special as that.
He looked at the new system messages that appeared before him, with an exhausted but happy expression.
[Fire Caterpillar has risen to Level 5.]
[The first Connection Crystal has been created.]
[You have unlocked your Status Window.]
[You have obtained the title of Hunter of Death Wight.]
His eyes sparkled with interest, but he also knew he didn't have time to stay here.
His Fire Caterpillar, its wings now slightly larger, flew toward him with a sound.
KIII
"We can leave now. We'll have to run at full speed," he said.
KIII
Edward smiled and took one last look at the mountain before turning to leave.
Finally… it was over.
RUMBLE!
A tremor left him perplexed, and he spun around abruptly, immediately going on alert.
'What the hell?' he thought. He felt a terrifying pressure in the surrounding area. This pressure...
It wasn't normal.
The Wight's corpse was still there; this pressure wasn't coming from it. On the contrary, it was coming from something much more terrifying.
RUMBLE!
RUMBLE!
His senses sharpened when suddenly the Cursed Land shook violently, and a huge crack opened up in the ground.
Edward jumped aside quickly to avoid falling into it; fear gripped him.
The crack revealed... countless bones, surrounded by intense darkness. Meanwhile, a strange blood-red river flowed down the sides.
At the same time, a multitude of blood-red pupils glowed like burning suns. Like fire. Each one did not have much power, but...
There were hundreds of them.
And they seemed to be staring at him.
The bones below were not complete. They were scattered all over the place, as if they were the remains of some great war that had taken place here at some point in history.
Despite that, the red pupils gave the impression that they could rebuild themselves into a huge army of undead at any moment, using those bones underneath, with just one command.
Edward was immediately drawn to one pupil in particular; larger, more intense. It sat at the very back, seated on a throne of bones. Unlike all the other scattered bones, this skeleton was complete.
It wore steel armor forged by a powerful blacksmith; from a distance, the cruelty in its gaze was noticeable, even though it looked indifferently at Edward.
[Death Knight: Guardian of the Desolate Temple.]
[Level 20.]
[He has set his sights on you.]