WHOOSH!
The blade tore through the air.
Yet, faced with what was meant to be a killing blow, Murphy's eyes showed no surprise or panic.
He didn't slow his forward lunge, nor did he try to block the swift blade with the thick branch in his hand.
That would have been as futile as a praying mantis trying to stop a chariot.
Just as the Longsword was about to strike him, Murphy's wrist flicked. The thick branch whistled through the air, not at the sword's tip, but sweeping viciously toward the left hand Tommy Han used to grip his hilt!
His target was crystal clear.
The sword!
If he could knock away or force Tommy Han to release this Knight's Sword—his most lethal weapon—then the threat from a Knight's Attendant with heavily injured legs and limited mobility would be minimized!
'I was ready for that move!'
Tommy Han sneered. He had anticipated Murphy's anticipation.
The trajectory of his thrusting Longsword suddenly changed, shifting from a straight stab to a deft downward slash. The sharp edge met the incoming branch precisely, intending to sever it, while the tip of the sword continued to threaten Murphy's arm!
SNAP!
A piece of the branch went flying.
But Murphy seemed to have expected this as well. The moment the branch was cut, he used his forward momentum to roll sideways, narrowly avoiding the follow-up strike. The broken half of the branch in his hand once again jabbed at Tommy Han's wrist!
Tommy Han reacted instantly, flicking his wrist and pressing down with the hilt to parry the insidious jab.
CRACK!
The hilt and the broken branch collided, sending splinters flying.
Within a few breaths, the two had exchanged several blows.
Relying on his agility, Murphy repeatedly made perilous escapes from the blade's edge, focusing his attacks on Tommy Han's sword hand.
Meanwhile, Tommy Han used his exquisite Swordsmanship and strength to constantly block and evade. Flashes of his blade whittled Murphy's branch shorter and shorter, until only a small stub remained, nearly useless for close-quarters combat.
"The game is over, you insect!"
Tommy Han seized a moment when Murphy tried to retreat, killing intent flaring in his eyes.
He poured all his strength into his arm. The Longsword struck like lightning, batting aside the pathetic short stick as its sharp tip sliced through the air, aimed straight for Murphy's throat!
This strike was fast, precise, and vicious!
'Run?'
'The blade would catch up even faster and pierce me from behind.'
'Don't run?'
'My throat will be pierced in the next second!'
The stench of death was almost tangible as it rushed toward him!
Yet there was no fear in Murphy's eyes; instead, a vicious glint flashed through them.
He seemed to have cast aside all thoughts of life and death. He continued to swing the short stub in his hand, trying to deflect the blade's path just before it reached him, seeking that one-in-a-million chance of survival!
'As long as I can block it for a moment, even just deflecting the tip by an inch, I can use the force to roll away.'
'As long as I don't die this time, I have absolute confidence I can wear this heavily injured Knight's Attendant down and kill him in this forest.'
However, at that very moment between life and death—
"Urgh!"
Tommy Han let out a sudden grunt, and his thrusting motion faltered for an imperceptible instant!
The gash on the side of his neck, torn open by a rock, had been violently aggravated by the fierce exchange and his all-out exertion. A piercing pain, accompanied by a familiar numbness, shot to his head, causing his arm to weaken slightly and his strike to slow by a fraction.
Murphy seized this fleeting opening in an instant!
'Run?'
'No!'
'An opportunity like this is rare. I might not get another one!'
'Now is the time!'
Murphy abandoned all thought of retreat, abandoned all defense. With his last ounce of strength, he stabbed the remaining jagged, sharp piece of branch in his hand like a dagger, plunging it viciously into the left hand that Tommy Han had slightly loosened due to the intense pain!
PFFT!
"AH—!"
Tommy Han cried out in pain. The combination of his neck injury and the blow to his wrist made his fingers loosen involuntarily.
CLANG!
The Knight's Longsword, a symbol of power and status, finally fell from his grasp and clattered to the ground!
Immediately after, Murphy reacted with lightning speed and kicked out, his foot connecting with the hilt!
The Longsword flew through the air, landing several meters away, completely beyond Tommy Han's reach.
Only after doing this did Murphy bolt like a startled rabbit toward the fallen sword, grabbing the sweat-slicked, warm hilt and holding it tight!
He gripped the Longsword, spun around, and pointed its tip directly at Tommy Han, who had frozen the moment he lost his weapon.
Tommy Han stared at the Longsword that was once his. It was now in Murphy's hands, its cold, glinting tip aimed at him. The sneer and bloodlust on his face froze, replaced by utter disbelief, and...
...a pallor born of a rapidly spreading fear.
He realized that, without his sword and grievously wounded, he had no chance of escape from this lowly Groom who now held a sharp weapon.
The Longsword was in his opponent's hand, his own legs were crippled, the wound on his neck was still bleeding, and his vision was blackening from his injuries.
'Resist?'
'It would be useless.'
'Run?'
'Even more of a fantasy.'
'I am a noble Knight's Attendant!'
'A future Official Knight!'
'How can I die at the hands of a lowly Groom?'
A fierce sense of humiliation burned in his heart. His pride and dignity screamed, making him want to lunge forward and tear at Murphy with his teeth, just to preserve his last shred of honor.
But...
'I don't want to die!'
The fear of death was a cold tide that instantly drowned his pathetic dignity.
He was still young—only thirty-two. He had a great future ahead of him. He was so close to condensing a Life Seed and becoming an Official Knight...
How could he die like a stray dog in this desolate wilderness?
The two emotions warred violently within Tommy Han's heart, twisting his face into a contorted mask.
In the end, the will to survive overwhelmed everything else.
The pride and dignity of a Knight's Attendant seemed so pale and laughable in the face of death.
He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing violently. The movement pulled at the wound on his neck, bringing a fresh stab of pain.
Finally, he looked at Murphy with eyes that were once full of arrogance but now held only fear and pleading. "Mur... Murphy..."
He tried to force a placating expression, but all he managed was a twisted smile uglier than a crying face. "Sp... spare me... I'm begging you..."
The words seemed to drain all his strength and shatter the shell of superiority he had always worn.
Murphy said coolly, "I can."
"R-Really?"
Tommy Han could hardly believe his ears. A wave of ecstatic joy from having escaped certain death rushed to his head, even more intense than when Baron Duval himself had named him a Knight's Attendant.
But this euphoria was immediately replaced by a deeper humiliation and hatred.
'He, a noble Knight's Attendant, had to rely on the charity of a lowly Groom to survive!'
'Just you wait. Once I get back to the castle, once I get help from my comrades...'
He swore to himself that he would use the cruelest methods to get his revenge and make this commoner who dared to humiliate him wish he were dead!
"But," Murphy's voice interrupted his thoughts, "I have a question. I'll decide after you answer."
"Ask! I'll answer truthfully! I swear on my honor as a Knight's Attendant!"
Tommy Han hurriedly agreed, his tone urgent, but the hatred in his heart surged ever stronger.
Murphy watched him and slowly asked, "Back then, why didn't you retaliate against me?"
"Retaliate?"
Tommy Han was stunned. He had humiliated far too many grooms and peasants to remember any specific incident.
His mind was a blank. He subconsciously assumed Murphy was talking about what would happen after he returned to the castle. "Retaliate for what? I... I absolutely won't retaliate against you when I get back! I swear on my honor as a Knight's Attendant!"
Murphy looked at his blank, desperate expression and sighed softly. "So you don't even remember."
"What was it? Are you really going to... over some trivial matter?"
Tommy Han grew more confused, a strong sense of unease rising in his heart.
'Could there be some deep-seated hatred between us that I don't know about?'
'Could this 'trivial matter' that I can't even remember really be a life-or-death situation...'
WHOOSH!
A cold flash of the sword.
Tommy Han felt a chill that pierced to his very bones spread from his neck, and his vision suddenly began to spin.
The last thing he saw was the cold figure of Murphy standing with the sword, and a headless body, blood gushing from its neck, slowly toppling over.
That body was wearing his clothes.