One More Time: Rebirth

Chapter 93: The retreat

Edge had continued to mow down the enemy forces. As he killed soldier after soldier the last thing they saw was that vicious smile of his. That smile that showed his excitement never wavered and simply grew as they continued to fight. That smile of his somehow frightened some of the Eastern Kingdom Soldiers. 

Edge could feel something surging within his body, as the more he fought the stronger he got. It was like a dam had been broken inside of him releasing a stream of power. Edge's moves were becoming sharper and swifter as the battle raged on, he was now using the least amount of effort to attack. 

During the beginning of the battle, Edge was getting nicked here and there and was full of wounds. But now as the fight progressed to its current state it was getting harder and harder to hit him. No matter what angle and timing they attacked Edge was able to dodge them all now. 

It was a weird sight to see, the person who was bleeding all over and seem like he was about to die from blood loss at any second was smiling happily. On the other hand, the soldiers surrounding him with overwhelming numbers grew fearful every second they saw that smile on the Edge's face. 

...

Edge continued to cut down one soldier after another, he didn't know how many had now fallen to his blade. He didn't know how much time has passed since the battle started. All he knew was that the excitement, the thrill of being in such a battle was pushing him forward. 

The feeling he got when he evaded an attack with the least amount of movement was intoxicating. Dodge and attack, dodge, and attack every time he attacked he used a different way to kill his opponent. He has been practicing his skills as well as creating new ones on the fly. He felt so invigorated that he didn't want the battle to ever end. 

Also even though he was dodging quite splendidly now, the beginning of the battle he was hit multiple times. Due to his adrenaline and the continuous rise of his mana Edge wasn't able to notice that his body was nearing its limit. It was also possible that he already knows that his body already went beyond its current limits, but he doesn't care. 

He continued onward no longer thinking about the consequences and simply staying true to his inner self. He no longer needed to pretend to be the hero, he no longer needed to shoulder any kind of burden. No one was asking him to do any of that, he just needed to continue on as himself. With this renewed clarity of his Edge continued to decimate the enemy forces. 

After quite some time had passed Edge noticed that the intensity of the attacks had lessened. He looked around and saw that there were now only ten soldiers left.

Even though the monster before them had killed all of their companions the Eastern Kingdom soldiers held their ground and attacked Edge. This was their final attack and they needed to make it count. 

Edge wanted to move his body to meet the enemies head-on, but he could no longer move as he wanted to. It would seem that seeing the end of the seemingly endless wave of enemies had released some of his body's tension. Not only that the wounds he received prior were finally showing their effect. 

When the Eastern Kingdom soldiers saw that Edge's movements were becoming a bit sluggish they didn't hesitate and went all out. Edge who was having a bit of a problem maintaining his [Air Walk] continued to smile viciously at the approaching enemies. 

His consciousness was slowly slipping as he had lost too much blood. In fact, if it was any other person they should've already fainted and died around the middle of the battle. 

Edge who could no longer move properly took a defensive stance and blocked the attacks that were aimed at his vitals. As for the other attacks, he could no longer dodge or block them and he allowed their weapons to pierce him. The protection he received by coating his whole body with mana had diminished and the enemy swords were able to penetrate a bit more deeply than usual. 

But that didn't slow Edge down as he counter-attacked the moment the swords had stabbed him. Surprised that he was still able to move the soldiers were unable to react on time to his counter attack and all of them had died with a look of shock on their faces. 

They thought that they could've won but in the end, they were still killed. When their consciousness was about to fade the last words they heard were from their enemy, Edge. 

"Thank you for the great battle." Hearing the tone Edge used to say those words, the Eastern Kingdom soldiers knew that Edge wasn't making fun of them and was being sincere when he thanked them. The Eastern Kingdom soldiers felt a bit gratified when they heard Edge thanking them. They might have lost and died today but they had died in battle against a formidable opponent. Not only that the opponent actually thanked them in the end. With that thought alone the Eastern Kingdom soldiers died feeling rather grateful. 

...

Kenzan was facing Tanith in her humanoid form. Though the power she exerted was greatly decreased, her speed and maneuverability in this form were formidable. Still, he had the advantage of technique on his side, so Kenzan and Tanith were mostly equally matched. 

As their fight was growing even more intense Tanith suddenly stopped and turned back into her dragon form. Kenzan was confused as to why she would do that, but he was also extremely wary that she might use another big skill as she did at the beginning. 

So as Kenzan was getting ready to receive whatever Tanith had in store for him, he was stunned when the dragon simply passed by him. Kenzan looked as to where the dragon was heading, and what he saw made his eyes widened in shock. 

Due to him concentrating so hard on the fight against Tanith, Kenzan wasn't aware of what was happening around him. Still, he was confident that their superior numbers would allow them to win, for as long as he kept the most troublesome enemy busy. So he wasn't expecting to see that all the Master level and below soldiers had perished. 

That was seventy percent of their forces. Kenzan was enraged at the sight, he didn't expect that the young man who was now falling from the sky would be able to do such a thing. He was wary of Tanith because of the large skill she used at the beginning, but it seems like that was a mistake. He should've been more concerned with the boy that came running first. 

Kenzan bit his left hand until it bled to calm himself down. Once he was calm enough Kenzan once again took a look at the current situation. Most of the Grandmaster level soldiers were dealing with Tsukiyomi, while the remaining ones were fighting equally with the Lener Clan. 

Kenzan started thinking about all the possible scenarios and came to a conclusion. All of his men would die in this battle if he allowed it to continue. So with a heavy heart, Kenzan sent a mental message to his men. 

"RETREAT!" The moment the order was given the Eastern Kingdom soldiers did not hesitate and started retreating from the battlefield. Kenzan was the last one to retreat as he took the rear. He looked at the boy who was now laying on the back of a Dragon. That boy was the cause of their failure, he was the one who made him retreat, Kenzan glared at the boy.

'I will come back with a greater force and I promise I will wipe you all out. Especially that boy I will personally end his life.'