Man With Super Medical Skill (Matthew)

"Strong?"

The rebel commander scoffed as he glanced back at his well-armed troops. "No matter how strong he is, you think he can take on 10,000 men?"

Turning to his lieutenant, he barked out, "Have 100 men follow me. I want to see who's foolish enough to stand in my way. He must have a death wish."

"Yes, sir!"

The lieutenant swiftly gathered 100 soldiers, and together, they marched toward the edge of the forest.

Emerging from the trees, they spotted Matthew standing alone at the clearing's edge.

At the sight of him, the rebel commander let out a derisive laugh, his eyes full of scorn. "This is the guy you were so scared of? This is the one you said you couldn't beat?"

The scout, still shaken, nodded hesitantly. "Yes, sir. It's him. We had over a dozen men, but he wiped us out like it was nothing."

The commander chuckled, glancing at Matthew with mocking amusement. "Hey, kid. I hear you can fight. Well, lucky for you, we're pretty good at it too. Wanna give it a shot?"

Behind him, the soldiers and his lieutenant burst into laughter, the sound echoing through the woods. They thought Matthew was stupidly brave to take them on singlehandedly.noveldrama

They had nearly eight thousand combat troops stationed in the forest. Even with the additional thousand logistics personnel, they still claimed a force of ten thousand. Surely, there was nothing one man could do against that.

But Matthew simply gazed at them, unmoved by their laughter. He recalled the same smug expression Brennan had worn just moments before his death.

"You've committed treason by surrounding the Governor's Keep-that alone warrants death. You've gathered in armed numbers, violating the law-that's your second capital offense. And you aided Brennan Dallinger in his plot against Olexar Lew-your third."

Matthew's voice dropped to a cold, measured tone. "Tell me what reason do you have to live?"

Since Orla was his ally, Matthew figured he might as well help her clean up these lingering nuisances.

The commander threw back his head and laughed. "Listen to this guy, talking like he's some grandmaster of justice!"

Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, he grinned wickedly and called out, "Hey, pretty boy-you sleeping with that Governor chick? Maybe after I break down her gates, my men and I will take turns seeing what she's like, eh?"

"You're not getting in."

Shing!

The ancient sword slid free of its sheath, and in an instant, white sword light flooded the air.

The commander's eyes widened as the blinding arc of steel rushed toward him, faster than he could react.

"No-no! I can't die here!"

Pure survival instinct kicked in as he threw himself sideways, heart pounding in his chest.

"Haha! Dodged it!"

He didn't feel any pain. Relief flooded through him—until he noticed his lieutenant staring at him with wide, bewildered eyes.

"What are you looking at—"

Thud!

Before he could finish, blood began seeping from the thin red line across his neck. A heartbeat later, he collapsed lifeless to the ground, his head rolling a few feet away.

His men barely had time to process what had happened before their bodies fell in turn, eyes still frozen with shock and mockery.

In mere seconds, they had gone from laughing soldiers to lifeless corpses.

Matthew lowered his sword, eyes steady as he looked down at the commander's severed head.

"I told you you're not getting in."

Without another word, he turned back to the forest's edge, standing motionless as if waiting.

Charging headlong into the army would draw too much attention. All Matthew needed to do was hold the line until Ore Island's troops arrived. Once they did, there would be no need for further bloodshed.