Chương 873: Chapter 872: Breaking Out

Baron Lockridge Clang! She defended herself against my attack, something she had not been able to do before. It did not seem like a fluke; she knew where the blade was coming from and defended accordingly. She was not able to do that, but now she is. She cannot see the blade or hear it; the mist has completely suppressed her senses.

"You have given me quite a lot of injuries, Baron. It's time I return the favour back to you," she said, with her looking directly into my eyes. As she said it, I felt her cast another spell. I tried to stop the mist from interfering, but the artifact is shielding her.

"You have only defended once, Baroness, and you are already talking big," I replied and moved toward her when I stopped suddenly. I saw the icy dome forming around us, but that did not stop me. What stopped me was the rapidly declining temperature and increasing density of the icy energies. They are already dense and getting denser, making the temperature drop quickly. It's already very cold in here, enough that a normal person would freeze to death within minutes.

Even for me, it is cold, who is enhanced with the power of the artifact. It's not enough to save me from it; it is mist that is helping me. It's my domain, and I'm trying to push cold out of it, but the density is so great that I couldn't. So, I am pushing away the cold around me, but some of it is still leaking through and affecting me. All of this cold is coming from the blue lines across the ground. The spells, she kept casting over and over, had most of the power go into the ground.

I had thought she did it to strengthen it, but I was wrong. The dome formed, and I had noticed something about it. Its walls are thickening rapidly; it did not give me a good feeling. My instincts are screaming at me that I shouldn't let it get thickened. I may not be a Mage, but I know magic and also understand the specialty of ice energies of her artifact. It is more powerful than a normal spell, colder, and harder to destroy.

I could feel everything through the grey mist, and what I felt told me I should destroy it. So, instead of attacking her, I moved to the edge to destroy the dome wall. I had taken a step when I felt her moving, and a moment later, she had appeared in front of me. Her speed was much faster than it had been until now. She attacked immediately, with the dense icy mist covering her sword. It's very cold, and now, now it has become even colder and drier than before.

I responded immediately and in full force, using Nobles Fury, Silent Slash, Baron's Strike, and Ghostblade. I also used the mist to reduce air resistance and make my attack faster and stronger. The fog is very powerful, with many abilities. It is sensory mist, but it could also affect physical things. Over the past few months, I have been practicing constantly to gain greater control over it and uncover more of its abilities. My blade moved fast, cutting through all the mist, when it reached her blade.

That is when I activated my newest ability once more. Phase! I could phase my blade and myself in the mist. Currently, it is only a few inches, and the effects of the icy energies further shrink that distance, but it's still enough. My blade appeared on the other side of her blade and moved toward her neck. I pushed as much aura into the blade as possible. I needed to finish her off, as I could feel it was still getting colder, with the dome thickening.

I don't like it, and the only way to deal with it is to kill her. It will not only win me this battle and give me glory, but also give me an artifact. I could use it to get more freedom and privileges from Grimvale. Not to mention that, with her death, the other barons will not resist. I will not have a problem in conquering the baronies while Silver deals with the monsters. My blade moved toward her, but she didn't retreat. Instead, her blade moved toward me. It made me frown, but I didn't stop.

My blade will reach her first. I had gathered the thick mist around me to slow it down even more. As long as she is dead. I will be fine. Soon, my blade was only ten inches away from me when I saw icy blades materializing around me from all sides. Stolen novel; please report. It shocked me, not the blades, but how close they have materialized around me. Without the artifact, she wouldn't have been able to cast the spells in the mist.

I would have made them collapse before they materialized, but I couldn't do that now that she has the power of an artifact supporting her. So, I kept the mist around me thicker. So, even with an artifact, she wouldn't be able to materialize, but I pulled more mist to me, giving her an opportunity to materialize a spell close to me. She has cast them so fast that I barely sensed them before they appeared. It isn't just for them, but also for other spells she had cast. Second, she defended my attack.

Something had happened, and I bet my life that it is related to the artifact. I pulled my blade back immediately, not only because the attacks were coming, but also because an ice wall appeared in front of my blade. I know the wall wouldn't be able to stop me, but it would slow down my blade. The Ice Blades came at me, and so did her sword. I activated Silent Steps and Ghost Movement, my latest skill to retreat, but the attacks are coming from all sides.

Soon, the ice blades behind me reached me; they were just inches away from me. So, I used the phasing, shifting to avoid all blades, but not all of them. One struck against my stomach and the other against my chest, both of which I defended with my armor, but the third one cut across my neck, giving me a shallow cut across it. That wasn't the worst; the worst is Blade. My blade phased and was able to stop her sword. Seeing that, I felt relieved.

"Good," she said. There was not even a hint of disappointment. Instead, I could hear her laugh, and the next moment, I understood why. More Ice Blades appeared around me, not just the ice blades, but also the Ice Knives and Frost Thorns on the surface, while she swung her blade at once more. Now, there is no mist covering her sword. Instead, an icy fire that sent a shudder through me.

'What the fuck are you doing? Come and help me!' I screamed at Dane. He should have finished the mercenary by now and come to help me against this bitch,'Give me a few minutes. This bastard is tougher than I had thought.' He replied. It should have surprised me, but I have no time to be surprised right now.

'Leave him and help me!' I forced out. I hate to beg, but things have become very dangerous for me. The sequence she used to spell is extremely dangerous. She had formed a mini-domain of ice element, with a dome; barely any energy leaked out or went to waste. Meaning, every spell she casts is only going to increase the power of the sequence spell. My blade moved, and I phased in mist, as I had never done before. I pushed the artifact as much as I could, drawing aura from deep within me.

I have no other choice; she is attacking me from all sides. The more I defend and dodge, the more attacks appear to me. It isn't just the aura and artifact; I am pushing hard, but also my skills. Another cut appeared across my leg and another across my waist. My sword is crushing through the ice attacks, while I am phasing repeatedly to dodge more, but it's not enough. The attacks that I dodge and destroy would come back again and again.

The biggest danger is her; her sword is a storm, coming at me from left and right, and it is getting faster as the energies in the dome grow denser, making her spells more powerful. Once more, I tried to dodge the attack, but it cut across my waist again. Immediately, freezing that part with Ice Fire. If not for the mist protecting me, it would have permeated inside me and turned me into a popsicle.

'Damn Silver!' I cursed. It's all because of that bastard. If he had not given this bitch an artifact, I would have killed her within a minute, and I should not be massacring the army. Speaking of the army, I had called the strongest officers to aid me, but all those bastards are occupied fighting the enemies. The edge of ten thousand is not enough to defeat the enemy quickly. I took a step toward the dome and once more got the cut. She is not letting go near the boundary. She wants to keep me occupied.

"Since you are here, Baron, I hope you will stay here. I will even build you a beautiful tombstone, given the relation we had," she said and attacked me once more, with her sword and the spells that never stopped coming.

"You are overestimating yourself, Baroness!" I roared angrily, but in my heart, I knew it was the truth. I am tired, nearly at the limit. I won't be able to continue for long. Once I reach the limit, she will not have any problem finishing me off. I need to escape, and there is only one thing that could help me. It is extremely risky, but I didn't have any other choice. If I stayed, I would die. It is hard to believe that things have changed so suddenly.

One minute, I was carving her body with the bloody cuts, and in another minute, I found myself on the receiving side of a bloody carving. My blade hummed. It is ready, but I hesitated. If it didn't work, I would really die. I was hesitating when I got cut again on the cheek. It is my deepest wound, and I have begun to cover it quickly. Seeing that, I let go of all my inhibitions and activated the move. The moment I had done, the grey mist rushed toward me fast.

A moment later, covering me in a cocoon, in the form of a cloak. As I did, I moved; my speed isn't fast. It's even slower than before, but as the attacks came at me. My cocoon would move like a whip, destroying every attack. It even stopped her from flashing her ice-blue blade and pushed her back. If it had given me speed, I would have gone at her, but it only provides this now, and I am grateful for it and moving toward the edge at full speed. I didn't have it for long, only for three seconds.

She understood: I was escaping and started attacking like never before, but my dense, misty grey cloak tore through all and reached there two seconds before whipping toward the dome. Its walls are thicker than my thigh, but my cloak will tear through them. The next moment, surprise couldn't help but appear on my face. My cloak had torn through it, but more slowly than I had thought. The ice was much stronger than I had imagined. If the cloak had been slightly weaker, it wouldn't have broken through it so quickly. …

Leila Silver Bang! The wall of ice exploded, and he escaped from the dome. I tried so hard, pushing myself, until some of the power of the artifact leaked inside me, which I am barely holding back from freezing me to death. Still, I didn't stop and attacked, but he turned and defended. He shook, but so am I. He looked at me, and I looked at him. I could tell his condition is bad, with frozen cuts all over his body like they are on mine. We are only standing because we are pushing ourselves.

The moment we let go, we will fall.

"I think it's enough to say, this battle had come to a standstill. There is no use in fighting anymore," he said, and I wanted to deny and keep fighting, but I am barely hanging on. If I didn't deal with this energy soon, I would be turned into a popsicle, and that would be a defeat. I looked at the battle and saw my men were fighting in a stalemate, which relieved me. We had fewer numbers than the enemy, but despite that, we are not at a disadvantage. Though it might turn to the disadvantage. If we keep fighting.

I looked at Vandal and Dane; they stopped fighting, with their eyes turned toward us. Dane looked fine, angry, irritated, but fine without any injuries. Vandal had a few cuts and a grin on his face. To him, they are nothing. I turned back to Lockridge, the man I wanted to kill so much, but I knew that fighting further would be detrimental; besides, we had already accomplished our objective. Our objective was not to defeat them and take the baronies. However, that would have been nice.

It is to stop them from advancing into Lauryl.

"Retreat!" Two retreat orders rang out a minute later at the same time, and our armies separated and moved away before stopping at the boundary of territories.