Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 230 - 28 Is this not very simple?

Chapter 230: Chapter 28 Is this not very simple?

Having suddenly gained freedom, the mercenary probably knew he couldn’t run away, so he raised his longsword and charged at Aske.

Aske calmly swung his sword, Throat Slash! It was as if the opponent had anticipated it, quickly hopping back to evade.

Stepping Rush! In the instant the opponent hopped back, Aske moved half a step like lightning, the blade of his sword thrusting toward the opponent’s abdomen.

In the blink of an eye, the mercenary suspended in air tried to Block the Straight Stab with his sword, not expecting Aske’s longsword to suddenly retract mid-thrust, causing him to Block at nothing.

Mountain Crashing Strike! Aske, who had just retracted his sword, twisted his body and swung his arm in another Mountain Crashing Strike. The mercenary, still in mid-air, unable to Evasion, could only struggle to lift his sword for an upward Block. He was struck directly by the Mountain Crashing Strike and fell to the ground, along with his sword.

The surrounding swordsmen immediately burst into noise. If the initial piercing through the abdomen could still be explained by the opponent turning to run, revealing a weakness, then Aske’s subsequent three-hit combo could only be attributed to his solid skill.

Thrusting forward during the mercenary’s backward jump, feinting to draw out the opponent’s Block and then transitioning to a Mountain Crashing Strike – the connection between these moves was as swift as a flying goose, leaving no time for a composed response.

Let alone the mercenary, even the swordsmen present, imagining themselves in the same situation, admitted they might not be able to handle these lightning-fast three strikes.

This Chief... is quite impressive! Certainly not some weak noble scion!

The octopus-headed mercenary was chopped down to the ground, struggling to get back up with a large gash from his left shoulder to his right abdomen — a wound left by Aske’s previous Mountain Crashing Strike.

He bared his teeth and roared like a wild beast, once again raising his sword and charging forward in a frenzied manner.

Aske, expressionless, swung his sword.

Another Throat Slash, this time the mercenary did not choose to hop back to evade but instead tried to Block with his sword horizontally. Suddenly, Aske sank his body, converting what was originally a Throat Slash aimed at his opponent’s neck into a low Crescent Moon Slash aimed at the opponent’s legs.

The sudden change in move was so fast that not even the watchful swordsmen nearby could see clearly how he executed the transition.

The mercenary, still maintaining an upper-body Block, had no time to change to a lower Block and was forced to choose a backward hop to Evasion.

During the hop, Aske again went for Stepping Rush, a Straight Stab with his longsword!

The opponent had no choice but to Blocking in mid-air, for if he didn’t, the sword would have pierced him on the spot. Yet again, Aske retracted his longsword halfway through and switched to a Mountain Crashing Strike, chopping him back down to the ground.

This scene... seems somewhat familiar, doesn’t it? The swordsmen started to wonder in astonishment.

What exactly is this Chief trying to do?

"Send five people," Aske said, stabbing his longsword down, pinning that mercenary to the ground. "One from each of the five major schools."

"You, and you, and you," Hans immediately acted as the underling, helping the Chief pick people, "and you too. Go and follow the Chief’s command."

So, five swordsmen stepped forward.

"I’ll pull out the sword," Aske said, pointing at the mercenary on the ground in front of him. "The Curved Sword School goes first. Attack with your best footwork, Evasion and then Throat Slash, understand? This is the first drill."

"If the opponent hops back to evade, while his feet are off the ground, the Flicker Sword School quickly performs a Stepping Rush from the side, longsword thrusting at his abdomen."

"In the air, he can’t evade, only Block. Once he makes a middle-body Block, the Rage Sword School moves forward with a Mountain Crashing Strike, chopping him from mid-air down to the ground. The rest of you follow up with finishing strikes, and make sure to smash the octopus on his head to pieces – that Extraordinary Creature is the real mastermind here."

"What if he doesn’t Block?" asked a Flicker Sword School swordsman.

"Then your sword will have pierced him," Aske answered. "The rest of you follow up in time for the killing blow."

"Then we repeat the first drill. Suppose he doesn’t Evasion but chooses to Block or Attack Block. The Division Sword School goes forward, sinks down and performs a Crescent Moon Slash at his legs."

"Curved Sword School with a Throat Slash, Division Sword School slash the legs—he has only one sword; he can’t defend both upper and lower body simultaneously."

"He can only choose to hop back to evade; at that moment, the Flicker Sword School performs Stepping Rush, forcing him to Block. Rage Sword follows up immediately, a Mountain Crashing Strike to knock him over."

"What if he holds a Shield in his left hand, or wields swords in both hands?" another swordsman asked. "Won’t he then be able to defend both upper and lower body simultaneously?"

"Simple," Aske said. "If you encounter such an enemy, still the Curved Sword School aims for the Throat Slash in the center, then the Division Sword School goes around to the left to slash the legs, and the Rage Sword School to the right with a Half Moon Slash."

The swordsmen immediately visualized it: one person performing a Throat Slash at the front, a Crescent Moon Slash sweeping the legs from the left, and a Half Moon Slash chopping down from above on the right...

Unless he had three heads and six arms, there’s no way to Block them all! Surely he can only hop back to evade!

No matter whether the opponent hops back or performs a Rolling escape, the Flicker Sword School follows up with a Stepping Rush. A roll surely wouldn’t allow time to react, and for a backward hop, there’s still time for a mid-air Block, yet followed by a Mountain Crashing Strike from the Rage Sword School to knock him flat...

The swordsmen finally broke out in cold sweats. With this combination attack routine, it seemed that not only the mercenaries, but any one of them too, if surrounded and assaulted like this, would face nothing but a grim demise.

"This... this method, it’s a bit underhanded, isn’t it?" The speaker was Team Fifteen’s Martin, who had previously been the most vocally resistant. His assertive tone was now gone, his voice trembling.

"This has nothing to do with being underhanded," Aske retorted. "It’s just playing to our strengths and avoiding our weaknesses. We have strength in numbers after all."

The swordsmen exchanged glances.

"So, shall we try it?" Hans spoke on behalf of the group.

Aske then drew his longsword and quickly stepped backward.

The twice-battered mercenary staggered to his feet, only to be met by five swordsmen with grim expressions, ready to use him to test the Chief-designed combination sword techniques.

The swordsmen from Curve Blade School charged forward first, Throat Slash!

The mercenary leaped backward to dodge. The Spot Sword School swordsman on the side hastened his charge, Stepping Rush!

The octopus-headed mercenary blocked in mid-air with his longsword, while the Angry Blade School swordsman had already charged forward, delivering a Mountain Crashing Strike from above...

Then it was blocked by the opponent.

This... Chief, it seems that your designed swordsmanship isn’t really effective?

The swordsmen began whispering among themselves, casting doubtful glances at Aske.

"Mountain Crashing Strike is too slow to execute," Aske sighed and advanced with his sword. "Haven’t any of you ever practiced teamwork-based strikes before?"

Hans was speechless. Of course, they had trained in combination techniques, but... well, how to put it?

It was like a poor student failing a math exam, and then the class genius comes over and says, "Hey, you got this problem wrong? Haven’t you studied factoring and derivatives?"

How is one supposed to answer that? Sure, it had been studied, but studying doesn’t guarantee acing the exam questions!

After all, it’s normal to make mistakes on the first try, right?

Under the doubtful gazes of the swordsmen, Aske charged towards the octopus-headed mercenary, executed Throat Slash! Stepping Rush! Mountain Crashing Strike! With a smack, the octopus-headed mercenary was once again struck to the ground.

The swordsmen were on the verge of tears. Alright, it’s not that the technique is ineffective! It’s our skill that’s lacking!

"See that? Mountain Crashing Strike needs to be faster! It must be fast! Don’t wait for his mid-air block before launching Mountain Crashing Strike; as soon as his elbow slightly lifts, you need to swing down," Aske explained. "The reaction time in between can’t exceed roughly 0.13 seconds; otherwise, Mountain Crashing Strike won’t hit him before his feet touch the ground, and naturally, he’ll be able to block it with leverage."

"Chief," Hans said awkwardly, "isn’t a reaction time of 0.13 seconds a bit short..."

"Is 0.13 seconds considered short?" Aske said incredulously, swinging another Mountain Crashing Strike and toppling the octopus-headed mercenary again.

The swordsmen had no reply, feeling as if their own pride as swordsmen was being ground into the dirt just like the prone mercenary on the ground.

"There it is," Medea murmured from the back of the crowd with a wistful expression, whispering to Nora, "The Chief’s casual mockery that strikes right to the heart... do you think it’s intentional or unintentional?"

"I don’t know, it’s probably unintentional," Nora replied with a complex look, facepalming. "Next, he’s probably going to say, ’I think you guys can do it, can’t you?’"

"I think you guys can do it," Aske frowned, "It’s not that hard, is it?"

God damn simple! We simply can’t do it! The swordsmen roared in their minds in unison.

"Never mind, I’ll demonstrate it again, watch closely," Aske said. Then, with another three-move combination, he struck the octopus-headed mercenary down again—this mercilessly bullied mercenary eventually collapsed and died on the ground due to repeated penetrations and loss of blood for too long.

His octopus-like head tried to leap up, only to be skewered and killed by a Straight Stab from Aske’s sword.

"Pretty simple, isn’t it?" Aske swung his longsword, flinging away the Heart Stealer’s corpse, he said with a smile.

The swordsmen remained silent.

How the hell are we supposed to respond?

It’s easy, so why can’t we do it?

It’s not easy, so how can you do it effortlessly?

It’s so annoying!