The Runesmith

Chapter 441: Defeating Cerberus.

I would like to officially inform all my readers that I have started writing a new story called Heavy Metal [ A Monster Evolution LitRPG ] You can probably figure out what itʼs about from the title and hope you give it a try. If you like Runesmith, then I think that you will enjoy it as well. There arenʼt that many chapters out yet but I hope you all follow it for later and if you are inclined to, give a nice rating :D 

As Roland stood there, surveying the aftermath of his devastating attack, the Baskerville brothers faced a grim reality. Their confident demeanor was shattered and replaced by a sense of uncertainty. The balance of power had shifted in favor of the man in the runic armor and they knew it.

With Ulfine incapacitated and Thunderclaw slain, the brothers were left to confront Roland alone. Despite their prowess as Knight Commanders, they were facing an opponent with a self-restoring golem army. He had also managed to outmaneuver them at every turn and potentially had another ace up his sleeve.

Roman, Elythaes, and Andreas exchanged wary glances, silently communicating their next move. They knew they couldnʼt afford to underestimate Roland any longer. Despite their numerical disadvantage they had to find a way to overcome this formidable foe. Their lives depended on it and they had to give it all.

“We need to come up with a strategy, this isn’t someone we can defeat without proper tactics…”

“What do you propose?”

“We canʼt let him dictate the pace of this battle. We need to find a weakness and exploit it.”

“Heʼs a mage but casts spells without any chanting, he doesn’t seem like he lost much mana since the battle started, does that monster even have a weakness?”

The three were starting to realize that their opponent wasn’t quite normal. He was certainly not a regular rune mage, more than likely he was a special class holder that they had no information on. They had made a blunder by not doing their research and believing in their skills a bit too much.

“He is still at the same tier as we are and we outnumber him, those golems are nothing more than a distraction, we need to aim for him, even if it will cost us…”

“You mean?”

Elythaes nodded at Roman who had a disgruntled look on his face. It seemed that he knew what his brother was insinuating. They needed to focus all of their best skills and techniques on a single opponent. Fighting the golems first would be a mistake as they didn’t know how many times they could be restored. Fleeing was also not an option as the man already showcased his recording technology. If word got out of what they did, the ramifications of their actions would be dire.

“Fine, but you better pay for the elixir after this is over, Andreas take the lead, I’ll be right behind you and we’ll do it together.”

The third brother didn’t even nod and remained silent. It seemed that the three had some sort of plan, one that would put two of them in danger. Andreas, the youngest brother, stepped forward with his halberd held firmly in hand. His eyes locked on his target, an armored man surrounded by a purple haze. Roman followed closely behind, his body vanishing as the charge commenced.

The two were met with a salvo of energy beams from the reformed golem army. The darkened dungeon that was filled with swamp water and mist was now illuminated. Even if there were a few dungeon monsters there, they were instantly eradicated by the constant rays of concentrated mana. Yet, they were not enough to stop the advance of these two men.

Andreas, who was like a bull, continued to charge while allowing himself to get hit by these projectiles. At first, it seemed that they were hitting his body but instead, a strange phenomenon was taking place. The projectiles bent at the last moment and collided with his shield. It was as if they were being sucked into it through the use of some kind of skill. The shield, which was thick and sturdy, was robust enough to take hundreds of magical collisions.

Roman on the other hand used a different approach. His speed was extraordinary and he continued to evade each attack with graceful movements. He weaved between the beams, relying on his agility and reflexes to dodge the onslaught. His strategy was to get close enough to Roland to unleash his most devastating techniques and keep him busy long enough for their plan to work.

As the two Baskerville knights charged their leader remained standing in the background. He was also getting some attention from the golems but not as much. It was clear that he was waiting for his two allies to give him an opening and only then would he utilize his strongest technique. While this plan was quite rudimentary and their opponent had mostly seen through what they were up to, it didn’t mean that it would fail.

‘Are they finally started to take me seriously?’

Roland thought to himself while accepting the challenge. At this point, he was mostly aware of their capabilities but he couldn’t relax. He was still going up against three tier 3 class holders who were older and more experienced than him in combat. While it seemed that he had the upper hand, the moment could be fleeting. His golems were a nice distraction but they couldn’t really critically injure any of these people, they were just not strong enough for such a feat.

There were a few ways he could go about this situation as running was still an option. However, he didn’t want to take up too much time. While he had managed to knock Ulfine out cold, she could wake up at any time. Then there were also the tier 2 knights that he had lost within the swamp. While they would probably not be able to pass through his golem squadron, they could still aid his enemies. It was better to take care of them in a swift fashion and for that, he might have to take a few hits.

Thus while in his strongest form, he charged forth with his shield raised. He wasn’t only a mage as his sturdy armor along with his skills would allow him to exchange blows with close-ranged fighters. The world was already filled with particles of blue light as he was looking at his enemyʼs mana phantoms to predict their next move.At first, it seemed that Andreas would try to lock him down with a charge but to his surprise, Roman was the one to appear first. Through some type of hastening skill, he closed a gap of tens of meters in an instant. His blade shimmered with magical energy as it slashed through the air, aiming directly for Rolandʼs exposed flank. Roland reacted swiftly, bringing up his shield to intercept the blow. The impact reverberated through his arm and was dispersed with the help of his runic magic.

His opponent was quite swift and attempted to slash at him multiple times but before he could a spiky pillar made of rocks erupted from the ground. He gracefully retreated by performing a backflip and simultaneously sliced at the rock to cut it in half. Andreas closed in and his halberd swung with deadly intent. However, just as the weapon was about to strike, Roland sidestepped with surprising agility for someone in heavy armor. He countered with a powerful kick to Andreasʼ midsection. The knight managed to block the attack with his shield but the force of the impact sent him sliding back.

Now that the two men were forced to retreat slightly Roland unleashed a barrage of magical spells. With the addition of a couple of floating golemic cubes around him, the two were forced to either block or evade. Roman didn’t let up as he continued his relentless assault, his blade dancing with deadly grace as he tried to find an opening in Rolandʼs defenses. Meanwhile, Andreas regrouped and charged at him once more.

A battle of unprecedented proportions between the two Knights and the Runesmith ensued. Both partiesʼ weapons collided with each other and generated shockwaves from each exchange. The ground became riddled with holes from the magical attacks and trees fell by being cut by blades or pierced by a polearm. Neither side was letting up but the man in the middle seemed to push back the duo who was barely holding it together.

The battle raged on but the third knight Elythaes continued to watch from a distance. He was getting ready and trying to time his grand technique with his two partners. The golems continued to assault him from all directions but didn’t pose a threat to a magical master swordsman, at most they could distract him.

“Now!”

He shouted while vanishing from sight through unknown means. The golems that were shooting at him were unable to detect him but suddenly collapsed after something cut them into multiple pieces. His form had vanished from sight but it was obvious where he was going.

Andreas and Roman knew that it was time to finish this and continued with their plan. First, the larger of the two abandoned his weapon and performed a strange grasping motion toward their armored opponent. A strange set of semi-transparent chains erupted from his whole body and in the direction of their opponent. Even when blasted with spells or blocked by a mana veil, they continued to move as if they were on a different plane of existence.

Roland found himself being bound by this strange skill and his movements became sluggish. The sudden restraint caught Roland off guard and he found himself ensnared by these strange ethereal chains. Meanwhile, Roman seized the opportunity, his blade glowing with a brilliant light as he lunged forward with unmatched speed. His blade bent at strange angles and looked like a snake going for his side that he was holding his hammer in.

This seemed to be the crux of their plan, to restrict his movements from both sides for even a split second. Roland already saw what was coming and there was not much time for him to make the correct adjustments, he would not be coming out from this battle unscathed. However, he didn’t panic, pain was not something that he feared at this point he just needed to survive.

His enemies have gotten quite close to him and they were in range for some punishment. He had two options, one riskier than the other but it would end the fight right then and there. There was no time to contemplate the issue and in that split second, he made up his mind. Instead of turtling up and defending himself from their blows, he would fully go on the offensive instead.

The two men that were trying to hold him back gave it their all but instead of struggling further, he let go of both his shield and hammer. Instead, he just opened up his palms to point at the two. The runes on his armor began to shift and glow bright purple. Electrical discharges took place as energy gathered towards his palms.

At the same time, all the golems reacted to his call. They all turned their weapons in his direction and quickly discharged all of their energy. While they were aiming at the two men on both sides, Roland was still in the middle.

The combined assault from both the golems and Roland himself created a cataclysmic explosion of magical energy. The shockwave rippled outwards, shaking the very foundations of the dungeon and sending debris flying in all directions. Roman and Andreas were engulfed in the blast, their bodies thrown backward like rag dolls, and their forms became obscured by smoke and dust.

However, this was within their calculations. Even though both his palms created a swirling magical blast that collided with the two, this was not the end. As Roland was discharging his energy something collided with his helmet, something that he had expected. The force was immense and he could only contort his body backwards to keep himself from losing his neck.

It was the third Baskerville Knight who was coming for his head. He had used his allies as a distraction to propel himself at perhaps the speed of sound in his direction. If it wasn’t for the mana phantom that this skill produced, Roland would have not even known that it was coming. Luckily, calculating the trajectory and timing with the help of mathematics was a possibility.

Rolandʼs mind raced as he attempted to slip through this deadly attack. However, this was easier said than done as the blades sunk into his armor and were able to cut through it. He felt pain surging through his entire body as something entered his body. His left shoulder took the brunt of this impact along with his face as his helmet was dislodged from his face.

The collision was fierce and it sent even more ripples and echoes throughout the whole dungeon. But suddenly things went quiet and only the sound of a few crumbling rocks from the dungeon’s high ceiling could be heard by the survivors of this clash.

On one side lay a large armored man with a gaping hole in his chest, something created by the massive palm blast he received while holding his enemy down. On the other was another, he was not dead but his sword arm was missing as he had tried to deflect this surge of magical energy but had been too late. Then in the middle was the man that they tried to defeat, his forehead bleeding and a sword embedded in the left side of his chest.

Only one person was standing among the rubble and he belonged to the Baskerville Knights. In his left hand, he was holding a sword that looked quite similar to the one that was now embedded in Roland’s left chest area close to his shoulder. For a moment there was a smile on his face as he assumed that he had been victorious but before he could celebrate he noticed some movement, his enemy was still alive.

“A faint for the head but the true strike aims for the heart not bad… I didn’t actually think that you’d be able to pierce me though…”

Roland’s voice sounded as his body started moving, he was in a lot of pain but he had managed to survive the exchange. His left arm hung limply at his side, the pain throbbing through his body as he grasped the hilt of the sword embedded in his chest. With a grunt of effort, he slowly pulled the blade out and blood started to gush out from his wound. Despite the agony, his expression remained stoic as this was not quite over.

“Hah, I don’t know how you’ve managed to survive that but it matters not, I’ll just end you now.”

“Will you now?”

“You think that you can fight me with one arm and an injury like that? Just give up and save yourself some face!”

“You mean this little flesh wound? Look, it’s already getting smaller…”

“Huh? How is that…what are you?”

The Baskerville Knightʼs eyes widened in disbelief as Roland stood before him, seemingly unfazed by the grievous wound. To make things even more disheartening, the large wound he created with his sword was mending itself before his eyes. The man was still glowing purple but there was a tinge of gold radiance there, as if a priest was healing his wounds at a rapid pace. Elythaes was positive that he did not have any time to drink an elixir or healing potion but somehow, he was regenerating like some kind of monster.

“You fought well.”

Roland cracked his neck in an intimidating fashion while his armor started to reform itself. The hole that had been created mended itself as if it was also affected by a healing spell and soon no visible damage on the armor could be spotted to the naked eye.

“But without your little helpers… the victory belongs to me!”

The abandoned hammer along with the shield flew back to him with the only exception being his helmet which had been flung into the distance and out of range of his skills. Elythaes did not believe that his enemy was uninjured by his attack and steeled his resolve. Quickly he plunged himself into the fray, even if he only had one sword he did not want to believe that his opponent was uninjured.

As Elythaes charged in once more, Roland met his blade with his shield. Despite the injuries he had sustained, Rolandʼs movements were still fluid and calculated. At first, it seemed that he was wavering but as the moments passed it became clear that he was recovering. His opponent on the other hand was now alone to face the army of supporting golems and their master.

The clash between Roland and Elythaes intensified, the sound of their weapons echoing through the cavernous dungeon. Yet, even though the Magical Swordsman attempted to shift the tides of battle, the longer it took the more obvious the result was. Soon his blade was flying through the air as his side was met with a hit from a magically enhanced hammer. His body flew to the side like a rag doll and he ended up submerged in some swampwater.

“N-no, t-this can’t end like this…w-who are you really?”

“Me? I’m just a simple Runesmith…”

Roland replied while approaching, his large hammer planted over his shoulder as he strode toward his enemy. The battle was over and Elythaes was quite shocked. His face had gone pale and he was clearly fearful of what was about to come. However, before the final blow could land, Roland stopped for a moment as his adversary seemed to recognize something.

“You… that face… are you actually…”