Raising the two swords he had previously taken out of himself, Julian redirected the first five javelins, and the remaining five he dodged. Even then, redirecting the javelins strained his arms way more than he had imagined.
The four soldiers on horses suddenly dashed toward him. Their formation was solid, and if he were to try blocking their approach, he would be cut down. Dodging was not an option either since they were on swift horses.
So Julian went for another route.
With what little Spiritual Essence remained inside his ring, he used telekinesis on the legs of the horses, crushing them and causing the soldiers atop the horses to fall down.
Once again, his Spiritual Essence was drained. However, the soldiers barely batted an eye as they landed elegantly on the ground and aimed their long blades at him, approaching carefully.
"You know, you're much more organized than the Saharan Empire." Julian did some small talk. "Their captains were pretty weak, and you four here could definitely take down a general."
He glanced past them at the samurai wielding a glaive.
"As for you, what's someone so strong doing here?"
The samurai did not reply. Instead, he raised the glaive high into the sky, its tip beginning to emit a crimson glow. Suddenly, the eyes of the four soldiers in front of him turned crimson.
Julian narrowed his eyes.
'Of course it's a Soul Artifact.'
The soldiers dashed toward him. They were much faster than he was expecting, so that even while their movements seemed slower to him, he only managed to parry their strikes three times before finally suffering a cut across his cheek and then his chest.
It was hard to fight against four of them, because every time he slashed his swords, they defended and then countered.
And with time, he would succumb to his injuries before he could deal with the four soldiers.
That meant he had to throw away his usual orthodox fighting style and switch to something more... convenient.
As the four soldiers closed in on him, Julian suddenly stepped back. Just as they increased their pace to match him, he kicked at the sand, sending particles through the gaps in the soldiers' armor and momentarily blinding them.
But that moment was enough for him to close the distance between them. One of the soldiers snapped out of it fast and tried to buy time.
Julian's expression hardened as he raised both his swords into the air and swung down. The soldier tilted his blade as if to parry his attack.
However, Julian had been waiting for that very moment.
He let go of both his swords, and, using the soldier's confusion, he grabbed the tilted blade and pulled it toward him, dragging the soldier along.
And now, since he could not use his blade anymore, the soldier became a punching bag for Julian, who clobbered him, shattered his armor, eventually disarmed him, and pierced the long blade straight through his heart.
Just like that, one of the soldiers died, mere seconds after the others lost their sight.
And when they also snapped out of it, they saw their fellow comrade lying lifeless on the ground, with Julian towering over him.
Julian pulled the blade out of the fallen soldier and, after wiping the blood off his face, pointed the blade at the remaining three soldiers.
"If you let me leave, none of you has to die."
The three soldiers exchanged glances, then let out a chuckle.
"If we leave, who's going to avenge Thomas?"
"I see..." Julian sighed, and after waving the long blade around, he entered a stance that one might expect to see from someone wielding the rapier. But instead, he was doing it with such a large blade.
The soldiers immediately went on guard, and after a brief pause, they dashed ahead.
But unlike before, the fight was no longer one sided.
With every slash of their blades, Julian countered them, even managing to land a few hits. Eventually, when the soldiers grew frustrated by the sudden change, Julian decided to end it.
He grabbed the long blade with both hands, and, to the surprise of the approaching soldiers, he slashed it sideways.
They tried to block, but he was much stronger than they were, so his blade went through theirs, cutting all three of them in two and killing them instantly.
The kill pop-ups appeared, but he ignored them, focusing his attention on the samurai as well as the hundreds of soldiers who surrounded him. It was almost like the four he had just fought were nothing but decoys.
And that also meant that his odds of survival had just gone down significantly.
"So what now?" Julian asked. "Are you going to come down and fight me yourself? Or will you send the soldiers after me?"
The samurai exhaled a sharp breath.
"Had my intention been to kill you, I would have been the first one to fight. However, your talents would be wasted among the dead, so what do you say to joining us?"
Julian raised a brow.
"You want me to join you? What's the catch?"
"You'll be our prisoner," the samurai replied. "After the war ends, with your newfound freedom, you shall be granted a position in the new empire."
'So he wants me to surrender.' Julian observed.
Judging by the confidence, Julian was sure he would not be able to escape easily. Furthermore, there was a high chance they were just baiting him to let his guard down so they could kill him.
After all, despite him and the samurai talking, the soldiers surrounding him were slowly getting closer, their swords still drawn. Even the samurai himself could not hold back his killing intent, showing it off without shame.
"Shit covered in sparkles is still shit," Julian said. "What's the point of giving me a choice when you're planning to kill me anyway?"
The samurai stared at him for a moment, then shrugged.
"I was just trying to be considerate of your position."
Hearing that, Julian took a deep breath and raised his blade at the samurai.
"What do you say to a duel to the death in front of all your comrades?" he offered. "If I win, I get to walk free. If you win, well, I'll be dead."
The samurai looked to the sides at the soldiers and nodded at them. After that, he jumped down from his horse and landed on the ground with a loud thud.
He was much taller and bulkier than he had appeared on the horse. Even his glaive seemed more menacing as he slowly walked toward Julian, stopping only a few meters from him.
The samurai was at least two heads taller than him. Still, after a brief moment of silence, the samurai spoke.
"Is that your final decision?"
Julian's expression hardened.
"It is."
"I understand." The samurai shook his head in disappointment.
"Since it has come to this, I'll indulge your request. But only because my underlings haven't seen a real fight in years."
Pointing his glaive at Julian, his voice grew colder.
"So I truly hope you don't disappoint me. Come."