'A martial art expert!' Jack thought after seeing the new guy's movement.
His movement was so smooth and fluid that he had arrived before Jack as if his assaults on those four were merely him passing them by.
Jack's wrench clashed with the karambit on the man's hand. Jack had a clear look on the assailant then. It was an elderly man with a half-bald head and a thick beard, and he was of the elven race.
The old elf attacked from different angles after his first attack was blocked. Jack followed suit with quick movements. His wrench turned into a blur as it clashed with the opponent's karambit.
There was a glint of surprise in the old elf's eyes. He had seen that Jack was also a martial artist before he attacked, but only after clashing directly that he knew what Jack had shown was just the tip of the iceberg.
Jack himself was concerned after the clash. This old elf was no ordinary martial artist. Although he had no mana sense at the moment, he could feel from the impact that the old elf was using mana manipulation. This opponent had no problem contesting his extraordinary strength with that ability.
While fighting the old elf, Jack studied the situation. Things were not good. This new group seemed to only have five members, but they had struck at a most opportune time. Everyone was caught off guard.
Out of the eight people from the first enemy team, three had died, and the rest lost either one or two shields.
Out of their own team, Glover had just fallen. He only had one shield left after getting ganged up on by the first team. The sudden ambush from the second enemy team shattered his remaining shield. Considering Glover was a native, the poor orc had died for real. Jack felt sad for Glover even though he was not especially close to that orc.
The others were not doing so well. Most had also lost one shield. Dina had lost two.
"Retreat!" Jack yelled. "Spread out! Run…!!"
Things were too chaotic right now. It was better to retreat first before regrouping.
The leader of the first enemy team also had the same thought. However, unlike Jack, he didn't call his teammates to retreat. He just went and retreated by himself, leaving his teammates who thought they should continue fighting this new group. Only the woman, whose arm Jack had broken, ran with that cowardly leader. She was at the edge of the battleground thus she saw her leader's retreat.
Stefan and the others followed Jack's command. They immediately ran in different directions.
When one of the members of the second enemy team, an ethereal, wanted to chase after the fleeing ones. Jack ran to that ethereal's side. That ethereal was startled by Jack's speed. He stabbed the spear in his hand, only to have it smashed to the side by Jack's wrench. In one fluid motion, the wrench returned and struck his head. He was sent tumbling to the ground with one fewer shield above him.
Unfortunately, Jack couldn't be at different places at the same time. Another person was also chasing, and he caught up to Dina. Jack felt helpless as he saw the girl get killed.
"Behind you!" Jack heard Peniel's warning. Peniel might be in her secret dimension, but she had a view of Jack's surroundings.
Jack swiveled back just as the old elf came at him again. Rapid punches assailed Jack while Jack used his sword art to defend. With only one hand, Jack couldn't fully unleash the power of Formless Flowing Sword Style.
The old elf seemed to be an experienced martial artist, as he quickly identified the flaw in Jack's art. He frequently shifted to Jack's off-hand side as he made his assaults.
Another factor that caused Jack a disadvantage in the fight was that he was constantly surveying his surroundings. He would rush over if he saw an enemy trying to chase his teammates. He stayed behind and dealt with these people to let the others retreat safely.
The others weren't aware that Jack stayed behind. Once they heard Jack's command, they immediately ran. They didn't look back. They thought Jack was also running the same as them.
Jack did so intentionally. He believed in his speed. He could retreat later. He had to make sure the others were safe first.
Another thing that took Jack's attention was the ethereal woman with the slingshot. This woman had been stealing a lot of shots from afar. Her shots were very accurate. One thing Jack was relieved of was that this woman didn't chase after the fleeing ones. She continued to take out only the ones who were still battling on the battlefield, which were mostly from the first enemy team.
With a ranged opponent who could shoot him at any time, Jack was unable to fully focus. He won't be so concerned if he still had his mana sense. Since he didn't, he had to always keep an eye on this ethereal woman.
The old elf was aware of this. He always positioned himself to attack Jack from the opposing side of the woman. This caused Jack more difficulty in fending off his attacks.
Even though the situation favored the old elf, he was also greatly astonished. He didn't believe even with so many advantages, he still couldn't score a clean hit on this youngster. The three shields above Jack were still intact. Jack was just too damn fast.
The old elf also couldn't help but admire Jack's swordsmanship. The way Jack used his wrench was as if an extremely experienced swordsman. Something that was usually attained only by a practitioner who had spent decades using a sword as a weapon. Jack was swinging the wrench with ease and accuracy as if it was part of his body.
'Luckily, the kid cannot manipulate mana. Otherwise, this will be big trouble,' the old elf thought.
Almost all the remaining people from the first enemy team had been killed. Jack figured it was time to leave. The time he bought the others should have allowed them to reach safety. If he stayed any longer, his situation would become more troublesome when all five members of the second team focused their attention on him.
But when he was about to leave, the old elf's movements turned peculiar. He was as if falling to the ground but suddenly rose back with strange movements. His head, fists, and legs came attacking from weird angles. Jack almost couldn't defend himself against this barrage of attacks.
"Dru… Drunken fist…!" Jack identified the martial art the old elf was currently using.
While Jack was taken aback by the sudden change in his opponent's fighting style, the slingshot bullet from the ethereal woman slipped through Jack's defense and hit his torso.
One of the three shields above Jack broke apart.
