Chapter 10: The Village part 5

Lulu collected all her strength and kept on blocking the enraged men around her. As she was blocking in the burning forest, she started smiling; and with a swift slash, she first cut down a burning tree; as her blade passed through the tree, splinters scattered everywhere along with burning ash and sparks. But her blade did not stop; she decapacitated the nearest man and also blocked one of the incoming attacks.

As the fight continued on, she was pushed against a burning tree, but despite it being in flames, she was only focusing on the opponents; she was gradually getting slowed, but the attackers grew slower as well, and suddenly they all jumped to the side. At that moment, a barrage of fireballs and arrows hit the knight. As her armour was already in a devastated state, the fireballs completely destroyed whatever rags and armour she had left; and the arrows pinned her to the burning tree.

"I must fulfil..." Uttered the girl, but at that moment, another shower of fireballs hit her.

The girl seemed to be quite resistant to the magical attacks, but still, the long, tiring fight did drain her stamina. All she could do was fall to her knees as he kept clenching her fists. She slowly raised her head and stared at the sky while the soldiers surrounded her. She took a deep breath and tried to stand up, but she fell back down, and suddenly a blinding blue light appeared, temporarily blinding her.

A few moments later, she started regaining her vision, and she was able to perceive what had transpired. The entire area was frozen still; the previously burning trees were now covered with ice, just like the ground; even the people around her were frozen in ice. As she looked around the area, Lulu started smiling, and at that moment, something landed not far from her with a powerful burst of purple energy. The blast had enough force to shatter the frozen people, who crumbled into a pile of dust.

Lulu just stared at the epicentre of the blast, which was now covered by icy white particles, but she was able to see a pair of glowing purple eyes, a pair of eyes which were glaring at her. She smiled faintly once again and then tried to stand up.

"P-pleas forgive me... Lord Solo..." Uttered the girl.

At that moment, from the white cloud, the man whom Lulu addressed, Solo, dashed right next to her. He was still glaring at her as the girl struggled to stand up, but then Solo gently put his right hand on top of the girl's bloody and messy hair.

"Sir... You shouldn't... Your hand will get dirty!" Uttered the girl with a shaking voice.

"You did well! Heal!" Stated Solo, and then he stepped away.

The girl started glowing with a greenish colour, and all her injuries and cuts started healing; the arrows which were still in her were slowly being pushed out.

"Thank you, sir... But I failed you... I wasn't strong enough to fend these people off, and I don't even know where that Ruion guy went... He might be dead! I am so weak!" Stuttered the girl after she was finally able to stand up.

"Then you are wrong. You are not weak; you are strong. You put your life on the line, and as a result, you grew even stronger. Strength doesn't always come from a physical or magical power. Someone who has a strong will and would not bend despite the odds being against them!" Replied Solo as he kept staring away from the naked girl.

Lulu didn't seem to be bothered by her being naked, but as soon as she heard Solo's words, she was confused and scratched her head. Solo extended his hands, and suddenly a set of armour appeared in his arms. The armour was identical to the one Lulu was previously wearing; as soon as the girl noticed the armour, a wide smile appeared on her, and then she kneeled down instantly. Solo gave the gear to the girl without looking at her.

"Thank you, sir... And also... I appreciate what you said! But I do not think I deserve it!" Stated the girl as she took the armour.

Solo didn't say anything; he merely nodded and took a deep breath, and then walked away. While the girl was dressing, Solo was observing the battlefield.

"Why did she protect these people? I don't remember asking her to do that... I just wanted to meet up with her in the village after I managed to cool my head a bit... But at least I managed to gather valuable information..."

"Usually, my Arise skill would last only for a short amount of time... But I am sure here; it doesn't have a time limit... I could use this new discovery to my advantage; since I have some sort of lord under my control, I will be able to influence how things go in his territory... But then again, there might be people with a high level of necromancy mastery, and they will be able to detect that the lord is being controlled... well, that will be my future self's problem."

"What surprised me most was the fact that Lulu managed to level up in this fight... She is now level 31... If that is the case... maybe even I will be able to level up since this is no longer a game... Maybe there are no longer level restrictions here..." Contemplated Solo as he was looking at the frozen trees.

Soon he reached the frozen mages and archers; as he got next to them, he simply flicked his finger, causing all of them to crumble into dust.

"This world is so much better than my previous one! I have a feeling that I will be able to do whatever I want...Then again, I still have not a single FUCKING clue what Ardion wants... " Mumbled Solo.

As he took another deep breath, suddenly, he heard a strange sound. A sound similar to a crack or a braking sound when glass is stepped on.