I Am The Only Witch Hunter-Chapter 322: The Tower

"Don’t meddle with something you don’t understand, drifter." The leader squinted his eyes. He raised his sword and aimed it at Siderius. "It might be the last thing that you will ever do."

Siderius jumped down from Red. He placed the bow on the ground and grabbed at Blazing Soul on his waist.

"I have never faced a spirit swordsman before. Come, show me what you are made of."

Siderius slowly walked toward the swordsmen. The leader eyed a soldier and gestured with his head.

"You. Go deal with that mad man."

The soldier drew his sword. Spiritual energy enveloped the blade.

"Spirit sword and Dull Steel. I wonder which one is better."

Siderius flipped the fire switch over and drew Blazing Soul. The sword caught on fire and burned fiercely.

"What is that?!" A soldier blurted out. "Is there such a spirit technique?"

"No... It is something else." The leader squinted his eyes.

The soldier didn’t back down because of the fire. He rushed at Siderius and lunged at him.

Siderius stepped back and countered with a horizontal strike. The soldier raised his sword up to block the flaming sword. Spiritual energy collided with Alchemy Fire.

"Heh. No ordinary sword can withstand a spiritual sword."

Everia had Petrinium. But that was a very rare metal. Not a forging technique. While Eldoria focused on witches and their magical power, Everia focused on spiritual swordsmen and their will power. None found a way to artificially boost their steel.

Everia didn’t need to. Because their will power already enhanced the sharpness and durability of the sword. Most of the time, an ordinary sword would be broken in two if it tried to face a spiritual sword.

Not this time.

The spiritual sword collided with Dull Steel but was unable to cut it.

"How?!" The soldier widened his eyes.

Siderius deflected his sword away and marched forward, thrusting a simple straight line. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

The soldier pulled back, trying to raise his guard back up. But Siderius was much faster. The flaming sword punched the skull of the soldier, killing him instantly.

The soldier fell to the ground lifelessly.

The leader unsheathed his sword. "Impressive. Is that a Petrinium Sword? How did a nobody like you get your hands on Petrinium?"

Siderius raised Blazing Sword up to his eye level. He lowered his body to maintain his balance.

"This is no Petrinium. I haven’t had a good sword fight in awhile. Come."

Eldoria had knights. But they were cursed knights falling under witch’s magic. They didn’t have the proper training of a knight like Siderius’ world. He hoped these people would be different.

The leader approached Siderius. "How arrogant."

In the close distance, he finally saw how big and tall Siderius was. In Everia, the leader was called the Tower. He was tall and big like a castle tower so they named him that. But Siderius was no smaller than him.

"We are very similar in height. I too was arrogant like you when I was young. But size isn’t the only thing that matters." The Tower raised his sword.

"You are correct." Siderius smiled. "Strength and skill are what matters."

Siderius pulled strength into his leg. The ground around him cracked as he turned into a blur and rushed as the Tower. He didn’t use Explosive Speed but he was already much faster than any human could be.

The hunter tested the Tower’s reaction by feinting a thrust at his shoulder.

The Tower was fast. Much faster than ordinary humans as well. His Will Power allowed him to exceed his body’s limitations.

The Tower stepped back and got out of Siderius’ range. His left hand grabbed Siderius’ burning blade. He wore a steel glove so the blade could cut him.

The Tower held it tight to restrict Siderius’ movement. He then swung his own sword, a blade as thick as a hammer, down from above.

Siderius let go of his sword. His speed shined once more as he closed the distance smoothly. He elbowed the Tower’s left hand, forcing him to drop Blazing Soul. Siderius grabbed the sword in mid-air and struck at the Tower from the side.

The Tower redirected his sword and slammed it at Siderius’ direction. But he was slower by one beat.

Siderius smacked the flaming sword on the Tower’s head then stepped back, getting out of his attacking range.

The Tower grunted in pain as the side of his face was burned.

The Tower was as big and as fast as Siderius. But Siderius was more skillful than him. While the Tower used one movement, Siderius already connected three movements into one.

The Tower finally felt helpless after a long time.

"You’re one dangerous swordsman, Nyx." The Tower said. He knew he couldn’t win if he kept going. "But you’re alone and we’re many."

The Tower raised his hand.

All the soldiers poured Will Power into their swords. "Hah!"

They marched forward in a line with their swords aimed at Siderius.

Siderius didn’t falter. He laughed loudly.

"Hahaha! Finally, some actual combat!"

The Silver Hawk appeared on his back as he grabbed it.

The Tower widened his eyes and immediately stepped back.

"Spirit Sword!" He shouted. And all his soldiers stopped as well.

Spiritual Sword and Spirit Sword sounded very similar. But they were not the same. Spirit Sword was a skill only a Rank 3 Spirit Swordsman could use, not a sword fueled with spirit energy.

They thought Siderius was a third rank Spirit Swordsman.

"Retreat!" The Tower shouted. He was a very dangerous man. But there were people he knew he would die if faced with. People like the Evening Sword, a third rank swordsman.

The soldiers scattered like flies. They rushed to their horses and rode away without looking back.

Siderius didn’t stop them. Whatever their misunderstanding was, it was helping him. He watched as the once bloodlust soldiers disappeared from this town.

The villagers watched everything from far away. Some had rushed into their home to hide. Some were nowhere to be seen and probably had made it as far as they could away from the town.

An old man slowly emerged from his house. He approached Siderius.

"Thank you, honorable knight. They were going to kill us all."

"Why did they want to kill you?"

The old man shook his head. "That we do not know, kind sir. But we did hear that they wanted to kill us for treason. A crime which we didn’t commit."

"Sometimes they only need an excuse. I am here for Vern. Do you know where he is?"

"You want to meet Vern? He ran away with many people. Unfortunately, we don’t know where he is at the moment."

"I need him to guide me to House Carlisle. If he isn’t here, is there anyone that can help me? Or a map is also fine."

The old man nodded. "I do have an old map. You can use it to get to House Carlisle. They are located further West from here. It may take you a few weeks to reach them."

"That would be great. How many coins do you need?"

"Please, kind sir. You have saved us. It is the least we can do for you."

"Technically I didn’t. When I am gone, they might return. I would suggest that you and all the remaining villagers get out of this town as soon as possible."

The old man’s face darkened. He nodded his head. "We sure will. Thanks for the reminder, kind sir."

Siderius then took the map from the old man’s house and continued his journey with Ashe and Jude.

Once again, they were on the road.

"I have never faced a spirit swordsman in my life. I wonder how different they are from us." Jude said.

"They are very different from witches. They don’t use Mana. They use Spirit instead. Or as they call it, Will Power."

"Will Power, huh... There is a saying that the spirit swordsmen are our weakness. The Royal Court never admitted this but maybe it is correct.

After all, spirit swordsmen are much less than witches. But we failed to conquer them many times."

"Eldoria tried to conquer Everia?" Siderius said.

Ashe spoke up, "Many times, Master. Especially the Great Clans. They always want to reach their claws to Everia. But they failed each time."

"It’s the first time I saw a witch capable of standing with a spirit swordsman, Siderius. You’re one dangerous bastard." Jude chuckled gently.

Siderius shrugged. He didn’t admit or refuse. He was not a witch. And he didn’t enhance his physicality with Will Power. His body was simply physically strong because of the mutations.

The road continued on.

The Tower and his men returned to their camping site. All of them were as pale as paper. They were still in disbelief about what happened. They faced a third rank swordsman and survived.

Or more precisely, Siderius let them go.

"Nyx, huh... I should report this to Master Tobias." The Tower mumbled.

He ordered his men to settle down then he rushed back to House Argentius. The presence of another third rank swordsman could flip the balance of Everia. They needed to be ready for what happened.