The person who made the scream was no longer on their horse. The horse had long since gone; however, the rider now lay dead among the several bodies of soldiers and outliers.
As he spotted the nomand, it also seemed to have spotted him. A large smile bloomed on its face with its four arms spread wide.
Then Baines saw it. Around the nomand's bosom, two long and saggy flabs hung loosely without a care in the world. It was clear. This was a female nomand.
She didn't seem to care about his rank; she just had to catch him, and it would be over.
The situation irritated Baines to a large extent; however, he didn't let it affect his state.
He took a deep breath.
'This would be the first time.' He tightened his grip on his lance.
This was going to be the first time he was going to take a life.
It was something he had always prepared for, but once again, no amount of preparation was enough for reality.
Whether it was a human or not, it was still a life.
The sound around him disappeared with his focus.
In his field of vision, it was just him and the nomand.
He didn't slow down his riding momentum. Rather, he rode faster.
The nomand grinned wildly. Baines was about five meters away from it. And just like the previous one, it was about to grab squat and grab Baines by the leg.
However, that was when Baines lowered his body over the horse. One hand holding the reins of the horse, and the other holding the lance.
"Ahhhh!"
He let out a loud shout and pushed out more flames around his lance, and pierced with all his might.
Unlike the previous rider who was a 2-star, what could this nomand do against a 5-star?
Nothing.
Ptshsch...
Together with the sound of piercing its body, its blood flowing through his lance, the fire burning its blood off the lance, and the life slipping from the Nomand, Baines watched all of it.
Then, as if the slow motion ended.
"Huup..." He heaved heavily, and everything came crashing back to him.
The loud and bloody battlefield.
The corpses around, and the one he had just killed.
Well, he didn't have time to contemplate as another outlier came running at him.
His lance gleamed with blazing fire once more, and he kicked his horse to begin the momentum once more.
With his arm stretched out and his mind focused, he pierced through the outlier. He didn't even register the outlier he had just killed as his horse took him over to the next enemy.
Then another.
Five...Ten...Fourteen...
Today was his first time killing another living being, and he had stopped keeping track of the number he had killed.
The more he pierced through the outliers, his total focus wasn't on the singular enemy anymore. And the more he didn't place his total focus on the enemy, the better he got accustomed to the battlefield.
After driving in full force for a full five minutes, his pace slowed down as he exhaled and looked around.
He hadn't even done a full sweep when his gaze met with a 5-star barbarian, smiling at him.
'5 star?' Baines calmly glanced at the barbarian and around him.
'How did a 5-star get here? Has the formation already gotten weaker?'
Well, it wasn't surprising. The battle had begun thirty minutes ago. The army would no longer fight with as much intensity. And it didn't help the situation that the outliers didn't seem to be reducing in number.
Without hesitation, Baines jumped off his warhorse.
"Battlefield commander," One of the recruits shouted in panic, hurrying over to hold Baines' warhorse before it ran away; however, surprisingly, it just stood in its position.
The distance between Baines and the barbarian was about seven meters.
Baines drew his sword, which ignited with a burning sword aura, and quickly closed the distance with the barbarian.
The barbarian responded in kind with a fist to his face, which Baines calmly dodged and shot forward with his sword.
The barbarian grunted at the piercing attack and retaliated by striking Baines' chest with powerful force.
Bang...
Baines hadn't tried to dodge the attack. Around his body, where the fist struck, was the silver aura gathered over his sword.
'So, a body coated in aura is this strong?' Baines mused in amusement. The barbarian's attack had felt more like an itch to him.
Whirr...
'Hm?'
Then tattoos over the barbarian glowed red. It pulsed violently, and from its arms, it revealed regal red claws. Its face curled into a mocking smile and looked at Baines, as if telling him, round two.
'Alright, let's test out other things a 5th star can do.' He charged at the barbarian and swung in a wide horizontal arc.
The barbarian drew both its arms to block the arc.
Baines didn't let up and moved closer, stabbing and slashing at the barbarian, who in return exchanged a flurry of attacks with him.
As he fought, he noticed a few things.
'The aura of a master is definitely above that of a knight. Though it is the same aura, a 5-star could easily deal damage to a 4th star, but it is not the same for a 5-star.'
The barbarian before him was an example. The way it responded to all of his attacks, whether a sneak-up attack or an upfront, powerful attack.
'At this point, the difference in strength comes from powerful techniques and skill.' Meaning, the more one added to their ordinary aura state, the more powerful attacks they could deliver.
At this point, he and the barbarian have separated briefly.
He calmly watched the slightly frustrated barbarian.
After unlocking its claws, it had expected to get its enemy in one full stroke; however, it hadn't even been able to inflict any damage.
'Blazing stride'
With his words, he gathered aura around his legs and burnt it, creating flames underneath his soles. With a heavy stomp, he shot off the ground, leaving a deep step of flames, instantly closing the distance between him and the barbarian with speed faster than he had used.
The barbarian stiffened.
In a fit of rage, it roared out some incomprehensible words and lunged at Baines.
"Solar Flare Slash"
Baines raised his sword vertically upwards, the sword now burning with intensity.
Slash...
In a flash, Baines had detached the barbarian's arm, stretched out to attack him.
The barbarian screamed for its missing arm, leaving only a red, searing burn forcefully closing the wound. Though it didn't give up and lunged with its other hand.
However, it was never a struggle for Baines.
With a final swing, Baines beheaded the Barbarian.
"Phew..." He exhaled deeply as the body of the barbarian slumped on the ground.
From this fight, he was able to figure out a lot of things, and ultimately, the way forward.
He turned to mount his warhorse when,
"Watch out!"
Grrrrrrrr...
Baines quickly turned to witness a 5-star nomand together with other lesser nomands rushing at him with fervent eyes. Their thoughts didn't need to be explained.
However, unlike what one would expect, Baines didn't back down.
'Blazing stride'
His legs turned red as he lunged at the enemies, his blade also glowing deep red.
Like a battle-crazed fighter, he ran into the gathering of nomands and swung his sword that passed through their skins like butter.
The more he killed, the better he killed the next, and from using a single swing to kill an enemy, to killing five with a swing.
Finally, after six years, Baines had returned.
'I haven't forgotten about all that happened, and the whole purpose of everything I am doing. However, until that time, I can only sharpen myself.'