Building An Empire Starting From The Labor Camp In Exile-Chapter 38: Ragged gasped

His thoughts raced as he threw himself forward with a blast of essence, rolling away from the second attacker while simultaneously creating a full-body shield. The shield shattered as a green arrow slammed into it, breaking it like an eggshell, but the arrow fizzled out as well.

’I need somewhere to hide from those arrows! I’m in the open’

His eyes swept the surroundings, and what he saw was flat terrain, except for the rocky boulders at the back of the pool. They would provide cover for a while. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

He yanked essence from his core, flooding his body with strength. He tensed and then uncoiled, springing toward the hill at full strength and propelling himself forward with a blast.

He heard a soft feminine chuckle but didn’t look back as he hid behind two boulders. Unless the archer came around, he was safe for now.

"When I heard that two of us should come for your head, I had to ask again if we were killing a Squire. But I must admit, I’m surprised. You lasted more than two minutes, even with us intending to kill you."

A figure came into view—dark clothes, a mask, and a hood hugging a curved body. She held a small green blade of condensed essence. Atrox couldn’t see her eyes, but he felt the weight of her stare on his neck.

"I wonder why two Knights would come for your head." There was a smile in her voice.

Now that he wasn’t worried about being shot out of the blue, Atrox was thinking more clearly. He summoned a longsword, and the solid weight in his hand calmed him. "Who are you?"

The woman stopped a few feet beyond the reach of his sword. "I’d make a bad assassin if I told you that," she said playfully.

Atrox shrugged. "You’ll be a bad one either way since you’ll either die or return empty-handed."

The woman stiffened, and her voice turned cold. "You think you’re a match for a Knight rank? You fool!"

Then she released her essence pressure, making a subtle ripple in the air that slammed into him. Fear unfolded in his mind, as if she was already in front of him, shoving a dagger down his throat. Atrox gasped and lashed out with a blast of essence, throwing off the pressure.

"Oh?" the assassin said.

Atrox ignored her and tried to steady his breathing. His blue-white essence still covered him, holding the pressure back. ’So this is the difference between Knight and Squire ranks! Their essence has gained quality and quantity... wait... I should be able to match their quantity, or even surpass some!’

With that thought, Atrox began to see hope in escaping from a fight with two Knight-rank assassins. ’I don’t have to kill them. I just have to escape whatever is freezing the area. If I can get to camp...

"I wonder how long you’ll resist my pressure. Squires run out of essence reserves quickly. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to test that out and then crush you with my pressure alone, you arrogant bastard!" The woman dipped her hand into a hidden pocket.

Atrox seized the opportunity. He had already concluded that a surprise attack was his only chance. As soon as her hand went into her pocket, he didn’t wait to find out what she was about to do.

He gathered more essence into his sword, which throbbed before lashing forward. The blade extended, shooting toward her, but she danced nimbly out of the way. Her hands flared with green light as she threw something forward.

The ground around her ripped apart, and green vines burst out, throwing up sand. They coiled and undulated forward, each vine as thick as Atrox’s limbs.

Atrox panicked and gathered essence into his sword, releasing it in a bolt that tore into the vines, cutting chunks away. But more vines replaced those he destroyed, wriggling together into a wall of green that filled his vision.

The assassin brought her hands together and said, "Green Burial!"

The green wall surged forward, fast and unrelenting, engulfing Atrox before he could release another essence arc. Vines coiled around his limbs, tightened around his neck, and filled his mouth as he tried to scream.

Atrox struggled, but it felt as though his limbs were about to be torn from his body. His mind became a whirlwind of dampened thoughts as the lack of oxygen overcame him. ’I might... die...’

"Eight... five... three..." The assassin counted softly. This was one of her favorite techniques—clean, without blood splatter.

She moved toward the twitching vines when she suddenly paused. "Is he still alive?" she asked in surprise.

She sent a mental command down into the ground with a blast of green essence. More vines burst out, shielding her just as the ’Green Burial’ exploded with a ripple of blue shockwave that shook the ground and sent twitching vines flying.

Atrox was on his knees, essence still radiating from his body in near blinding light. His clothes were ripped, and a thick red line wound around his neck.

His purple face turned upward as he gasped for breath, his green budging eyes tinged with red small veins that seems to want to bust.

Ragged gasps dropped from his mouth, his chest tightened. ’I have to do something right now or I will die! But I can’t seems to get my body to obey me!’

He struggled briefly with himself, his body trembled as he moved it inch by inch.

Suddenly, he staggered and raised his hand. His essence surged forward, forming a shield in front of him, but it shattered almost immediately as a green arrow pierced through it with little resistance.

The shield diverted the arrow slightly, but it carried force that slammed into Atrox’s right shoulder with the force of a hammer, throwing him back against the wall.

His head struck the wall, and his vision went white from the intense pain that erupted through him, his muscles twitched and ripped.