He was not surprised that the squire could deflect it, he was banking on it.

  After all, that squire had done this before.

  Though at that time, he did it when he uses a stick.

  There were also a few times where the squire did this method. Using his sword to simply deflect or defend through it

  The reflex of this person is impressive.

  “I’m no longer a person who would stumble easily” That old men behind him should have die. After that old men die, this squire would saw him covered in mud, rushed toward him and kills him

  That is the chain of events of some of his other death.

  After the old men die, it was his turn.

  So, right now, Henrik wanted to change his fate and see if he could also change the fate of those old men. So, he did a pre-emptive attack.

  Before he attacks, Henrik had pressed his feet and made sure his footing is steady.

  “Steady” he reminded himself as he made sure his feet dig deep into the ground. Not mud, not soft soil, but the ground

  It seems most of the time he died is because of his footing. One wrong move, he stumbles and the moment he falls, the game already ends

  When you fall, there is not a lot of method you could use to defend against your enemies. And it is not like he learns Jiujitsu and other ground wrestling method when he was alive.

  He knows how to punch, knows how to kick, knows how to use a gun. But wrestling? That is not what he had learned. So, once he falls down, it is checkmate

  Especially with a body as weak as he is now.

  The squire deflected and then in that brief moment, the squire slashes down toward him.

  Swoosh!

  The slash was so fast that one could hear the sound of the wind being cut

  When you are just inches between life and death, and a few feet of distance is the difference between life and death, your senses tend to go into overdrive and every noise, every movement felt amplified,

  Henrik felt like he could hear the sound of the wind being slashed but unlike before where he would panic, this time, he was abnormally calm

  “Treat it as a BOSS character in a game” Henrik thought to himself in his mind

  Henrik smiles and kicks the ground and he rolls to the side, the sword is gripped tightly

  The clash created sparks of fire and Henrik moves is agile and swift. He dodges to the left, and then roll further left, a sword strike and misses him by inches.

  Henrik look at the squire and there is a smirk on his face

  “Miss” he said with a mockery on his face.

  Those who is seeing this battle, those who know Henrik was shocked to see that the young kid from their village have such moves.

  Henrik doesn’t know this but around him are all people that knows him. Henrik knows that these people know him. He just doesn’t know who they are

  Stepping inside the reach and attack. That is the method this squire had used against Henrik before

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  He just steps inside his reach and that is when he is dead.

  But just because right now it seems like Henrik had the upper hand Henrik did not feel like he is out of the danger zone at all.

  It is because he had experienced this kind of things many times.

  Nine times to be exact

  He could make all the right moves, and one wrong move could seal his death.

  It is not like a game where he has a health bar and as long as his health bar did not go to zero he would still be alive

  In life, in battle like these that separate life and death by inches, even if he made all the right moves, even if he deflects every attack, even if he defended every strike, one slash to the throat, one shot to his head, one bash that could cripple him is enough to kill him

  Henrik was thrown into a hell-mode difficulty the moment he appears in this world. He had no armours; his body himself is weak sign of not eating well.

  And he had to fight a person like this squire.

  Any other person would have died earlier and would already have no guts to face such a person.

  Of course, it is even more so for someone like Henrik.

  But he is the only one in this battlefield that knows there is no life door for him

  Every path leads him to death. Each path he chooses is like a death door. What is a death door?

  It means wherever he opens a door that he thought is a door that leads to the path of life, when he opens it, he would find out it is just another path of death

  That is…. if he runs.

  Each time he tries to run from this hellish battlefield, he would die. He did not know whether this is the restriction that this looping mechanic place on him.

  Or whether this is truly the case, that this battlefield is really hell and the chances of escaping it is nearly zero for someone like him, a youth that had just reached puberty

  However, if he fights and won……if he fights and won…..there is a chance that a death door could become a life door.

  He is betting on that.

  The squire looks at him and for the first time in eight times, this is the second time that this squire looks shocked.

  Henrik learns another thing after his nine deaths

  Distance. He had tested this before, and he did not need to test it again

  He knows the optimal distance. If he fights any other person, he could not have guessed the distance this much

  But facing him is this enemy that he is very familiar with. This squire might not be familiar with him, and he might even be puzzled and perplexed why each of his move seems to already be anticipated by him

  But for him, surrounded by tens of thousands of people on all sides, this killer who had killed him many times, is the person he is most familiar with in this entire battlefield

  And this enemy mirrored him, blade steady, eyes locked on him.

  Henrik smirks

  He is happy. That the squire took him seriously

  “It cost me ten lives to make you feel surprised. Really not cost effective at all”

  Though in the eyes of this squire, the smirk on his face might look like disdain and a mockery towards him

  Around him there is fighting but it is common soldier fighting against the peasant.

  In the distance not far away from this small place the sound of neighing could be heard.

  That must be the place where the carriage is at.

  But right now, Henrik could not hear such noise, and he did not hear such sound. In his senses right now, there is only one person. Everything else is out to the back of his mind.

  This would be the life where would evolve’ he decided it

  “This time I would be the last one standing between you and me” Henrik had vowed to himself.

  Nine times.

  Out of that nine times, he had been killed by this person six times.

  The tenth lives do not count.

  It is because he was just sorting out the information in his head and strategizing. So, he did not count the tenth life

  It is a throwaway life.

  That is a lot of life to throw away. And this time, he would get his revenge

  “Hyargh!’ the squire attack.

  From the right, Henrik though, and just as he had predicted the squire attack from the right

  He always does it. It is like someone who is flustered doing whatever they could without remaining calm.

  That is what the squire is doing. He is panicked and flustered, never thinking that he would be stopped by such a greenhorn and a peasant

  “And then lunge” Henrik thought and right at the cue, the squire lunged toward him.

  Henrik smirks and he moved.

  He did not move at the same time or an instant as the squire. Instead, a beat faster, a beat earlier.

  The attack missed him by inches and Henrik hand moves, the sword on his hand moves according to his desire.

  Clang!

  Steel met steel with a shriek. As the steel clashes, the fire sparks and the sound is like a shrieking.

  Though it might be the sound of others.

  Henrik sword caught the cut near the squire sword, and in a swift motion he twisted his wrist, angling the blow away instead of stopping it outright

  “Done!”

  The force slid past his guard and the squire recoiled, and his steps was unsteady. The poise, the calm that this squire once possess is now being worn away.

  Now!

  Henrik thought and he moves his feet, stepped on before the man could find his calm and his position

  “Cut!” he yelled. The shout alone is strong and for a moment in this high intensity duel, the shout is enough to distract his attention

  “How dare you!” the squire shouted back seemingly trying to calm himself. In that moment, the squire dug his heels deep into the ground and forceful stabilize himself.

  Clang!

  .