City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Proofread by Thomas F

Solivos Yark

She swung her saber several times, sending arcs of the glittering flames toward me.

Bam Bam Bam!

I pushed the aura into the Intercepting Strike and defended against it before moving my spear to protect against the saber coming at me.

Clang!

I defended her attack before attacking with my spear.

It had been minutes since the battle began, and I could forget about killing her quickly. I had not even been able to bring a single injury to her body.

'It seemed like I wouldn't be able to kill her without using my real strength,' I thought, and made up my mind the next moment.

The horde is doing its job against the enemy; it's not as good as I liked, but it's still good enough. It's time I did that, too, and finished her up.

I can't keep blowing the undead. I am losing a lot of them every minute. If I want to end the battle, I must finish her; it is the quickest way.

I activated the Spearmaster's Presence and powered it with aura before pushing it onto the woman.

I could feel the alarm rising in her body, and saw it in her eyes as she moved to defend against my attack.

Clang!

It surprised me when, once again, she defended the attack.

It is a powerful skill that suppresses the enemy. Its effects are especially powerful when used with aura, but it feels like it didn't affect her at all.

I had killed the enemies with this powerful skill before coming here.

In the months after coming here, I had trained my aura and improved my control tremendously. So, it is even more powerful, but despite that, it didn't affect her.

"It's the artifact," I said.

It protects her against my aura; every artifact offers some protection, and seeing that there was no change in her other than surprise, its protection was excellent.

'What the hell is this artifact?' I asked.

I had asked this question to my people; I had memorised hundreds of artifacts, but this one was not on any list they had given me.

If I had known about it, I wouldn't have dealt with it so badly.

Still, it didn't matter; it would not change things.

I deactivated the skill. It's quite a regret; it is a fantastic skill. It not only suppresses the opponent, but also gives me an edge depending on how much I suppress them.

I attacked again using the Iron Thrust and Piercing Point, but also activated Reach Advantage, Crimson Flow, and Mirage Assault, before pushing my aura into them.

This is me, serious—and I'm using my true strength.

She reacted instantly as I noticed her moving her saber into a defensive stance.

Clang! Rip!

She defended against the attack, but the next moment, a cut appeared across her arm.

Mirage Assault is a fantastic skill; combining it with the other three makes it even more powerful. It becomes tough to stop.

She had dodged it on time, or it would have taken her heart.

"You had the chance, but you didn't take it," I said, and moved with another attack using Spearman's Surge.

Clang! Rip!

She defended, but I appeared behind her and attacked again. Giving her a cut across the back.

I moved again, and fire surged across her saber. I could sense her activating skills, bracing for the strike—then I laughed, already at her left.

Rip!

Another gash—this time across her stomach.

She was skilled, no doubt. Any one of those strikes could've run someone through, but she deflected them all with sharp instinct and grit.

But it didn't matter.

I only need to land one clean hit—just one—and it's over for her.

Clang Rip Clang!

I struck again and again. She blocked what she could, but blow after blow landed, carving fresh wounds across her body.

There would've been more—if not for that armor. It's decent, sure. But against my spear? It won't hold.

Her artifact may outclass my weapon, but her armor doesn't stand a chance.

Keep pressing. Keep hitting.

It'll rip apart soon enough.

Hun!

Minutes passed, and then another; the bloody cuts had appeared all over the enemy's body.

'This damn artifact!' I cursed, seeing them.

I may have filled her body with the cuts, but they are not bleeding. They should be; I am using Crimson Flow, and with every attack, the aura has powered the skill even further.

The enemies stronger than her had bled dry with fewer cuts than this, but she is fine.

I forced myself to calm down, eyes locked on the next strike. The reality hadn't changed—I still only needed one clean hit to end it.

But she wasn't giving me the chance.

I poured more aura into my skills, pushing harder, faster—

Still, the bitch held her ground, defending like her life depended on it.

Because it did.

At most, I was able to cut her, and all those cuts are shallow, and she had protected her veins. This means she is fighting without much blood loss.

I didn't let it anger me, and I fought calmly for a minute and managed to rend through her armor.

Hun!

For a few fleeting seconds, I felt a rush of satisfaction—

But then I noticed it.

And just like that, the calm in my heart evaporated.

"You're better than I heard," I said, smiling through clenched teeth.

"You're not bad yourself," she replied smoothly, stoking my anger.

She had made her move—right under my nose.

Her army wasn't in disarray because of me.

She had intentionally broken it apart, scattering her forces across the field.

I thought I was in control.

Seeing how these pieces seemed so random as they chased around my powerhouses, while the undead exploded around them, bringing casualties.

They weren't random; she was intentionally moving them in a pattern I couldn't decipher.

She did it without the aid of commander skill. I would have detected it with the Enemy's Pulse much faster if she had.

Enemy's Pulse is a rare commander skill. It had helped me win many battles, but this skill aligned with the enemy's usage of the skill to change the strategy.

If it is true, this is a talented general, and it made me want to kill her even more.

I channelled that rage into Tactical Disruption, another rare skill, before starting to guide my people. At the same time, I attacked the woman in front of me.

She is reacting to my commands and changing her strategy in real time.

It is frustrating.

I am a good commander, I had won countless battles, while this bitch, who is first time leading the army is going against me.

I wanted to blast the whole horde and bury her little army in it, but I controlled my emotions and thought carefully before making a final decision.

"Irivar! Take command of the horde for a minute—I'm finishing this bitch myself!" I barked, activating the skill to seal the command– formalising it.

Horde Command: Temporary Handover

'I will not disappoint you, Commander,' he replied. I didn't respond to that and focused on the woman before me, with the weight of the command lifted from my shoulders.

"It's time for you to die bitch!" I spat and activated my most powerful skill.

Skewerstorm.

I powered it with Aura along with the other five skills. It made me feel like my head was about to explode, but I bore it as I moved toward her attack.

Clang!

She defended the first attack, and I smiled. This was a building storm, and it was weakest at first.

Clang Clang!

I moved my spear again with the second, slightly more powerful attack, and she defended it, along with the third, which was even more powerful.

She defended the fourth one and the fifth, but at the sixth, my spear avoided her saber and moved toward her.

Rip!

It cut across her neck, creating a red line across her white skin. Had it been slightly deeper, it would have been the end of her.

She survived, but not for long.

She barely blocked the seventh strike, stumbling back a step.

I didn't let up. My next attack tore across her chest, ripping deeper into her armor and leaving a fresh gash beneath.

'We have reached inside, now moving toward the city hall,' a voice rang within my mind. A moment later, a grin spread across my face.

'Blava, kill her quickly. You can torture the other whores, but I want her dead quickly,' I ordered.

It is personal for her, but not for me. For me, the battle is more important. I need that whore governor dead. Once she is, I could use the news to collapse this little army.

…

General Azalia

Rip!

His spear tip made another cut across my armor, which had already turned into a mess.

It's barely hanging together on my body, yet, despite its state, it still offers crucial protection. Without it, I'd probably be dead by now.

But his attacks have shifted—stronger, faster—so fast, in fact, that I can barely track them. The mirage weaving around each strike only makes it harder to defend.

He shouldn't be this strong, but he is, and his attacks are getting stronger.

Forcing me to harness more power from the artifact.

I'm channeling so much of it—not just the fire, but the enhancements and healing as well. The reason the wounds appear without blood is because of it. But this power comes at a price.

The artifact's emotional influence grows stronger with every bit of power I draw, pushing me closer to the edge.

"If I lose control of my emotions, there will be consequences—dire ones. But I need more power to counter his increasingly vicious strikes.

The saber is a powerful artifact; it offers a wellspring of energy I can harvest.

More power, healing my wounds, halting the blood—they all come at a price, a terrible one.

The dragon's voice rumbles through my mind, urging me to take more, to embrace the fire.

I haven't forgotten how I had nearly lost control of the artifact in Greltheaven.

I am already feeling immense strain due to the artifact and the battle; I am guiding every part of it.

I needed to, seeing how this bastard was keeping his powerhouses away and blasting my men with the undead.

So, I had devised this complicated strategy because he was quickly adjusting to my previous attempts. Once it had finished, my people could engage with over 80% of his powerhouses.

It is nearly finished; they are very close to engaging them. Once that happened, I could fight this monster with more focus.

He attacked me with even more powerful attacks. Seeing that, I harnessed more power from the artifact to defend against them.

Our weapons reached close and were about to clash when his expression changed, and a grin appeared on his ugly face.

Clang!

I defended, while taking the rapid steps back to manage the force, and he followed as always.

Though this time, there is a nasty grin on his face.

"I told you, I will kill you all, and it will begin with your whore Governor," he said, making my heart skipped a beat.

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