""What?""
As Ais unleashed Wind Breathing, the members of the Hermes Familia, who were desperately fighting the man-eating flower monsters, and Revis, who was locked in fierce combat with Riezel, changed expressions.
They saw it.
They saw the Sword Princess, surrounded and besieged by the massive horde of man-eating flower monsters, unleash a whirlwind-like, all-directional slash that swept out in a full three-hundred-sixty-degree arc around her.
Blades made of wind, tens of meters long, burst forth, centered on her.
Wrapped in a spiraling gust, her sword flashed, severing all the monsters surrounding her, splitting them apart with shrill screams before they crumbled into dust and vanishedâa sight that struck the heart with awe.
âThat wind...â Revisâs gaze locked on Ais, her expression flickering erratically. âNo... that isnât the wind of the one she is seeking.â
Even though she thought like this, why did the sight of that swordswoman, cloaked in wind, make the blood within her body stir restlessly?
âCould it be her?â Revis stared at Ais with an unsettled look.
As she got distracted, Riezel naturally had no intention of letting her off easily.
"Losing focus at a time like this? Seems youâre easier to deal with than I thought, monster lady."
Riezelâs unnervingly calm voice reached Revisâs ears, making her heart tighten.
*Clang!*
A powerful slash struck hard against the crimson sword Revis had raised in defense, knocking it out of stance and forcing her entire body backward.
"Dammit!"
Revisâs eyes widened in alarm.
"Huuu... Haaa..."
A breath identical to Aisâs current rhythm suddenly came from Riezel, and soon, a whirlwind wrapped around his body.
"Wind Breathing - Sixth Form - Black Wind Mountain Mist!"
Riezel swung his thin, crystal sword upward, making it slice through the air from below, carrying with it wind blades and sharp, spreading sword energy.
Sharper than any of his previous strikes, the slash surged forward with the galeâs push, its speed doubling as it cut toward Revis.
"Ugh!"
Revisâs pupils shrank, clearly sensing the deadly threat of the strike, but sadly, it was too late to dodge.
With no other choice, she ultimately chose to sacrifice one arm.
*Pu-chi!*
With the sound of tearing flesh, she lifted her arm just in time to block the blow, causing blood to burst from her body like a flash of crimson light.
"Gaah!"
Revis swallowed her scream as her left arm was severed cleanly, blood splattering everywhere as she was blasted backward as if struck by lightning.
"Wind Breathing - Fourth Form..."
Seeing this, Ais, having finished off all nearby man-eating flower monsters, pressed her attack.
"Rising Dust Storm!"
From the ground, Ais swung her sword toward Revis in the distance, sending out five sharp wind blades that spiraled as they flew, striking the retreating foe.
*Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!*
With five slicing sounds, Revis groaned, not having expected Ais to suddenly deliver ranged slashes from afar.
As a result, deep, jagged wounds opened all over Revisâs body, blood gushing out in streams.
*BOOM!*
Finally, Revis crashed into the green, flesh-like wall again, shattering it and disappearing beneath a collapse of rubble.
Riezel descended from the air, landing before the heap of debris, exhaling softly.
"You okay?" Ais hurried over to his side, scanning their surroundings as she asked out of concern.
She couldnât help itâhis swordless hand was bleeding, crimson droplets falling to the green ground below.
"Iâm fine. Just a scratch." Riezel shook his head. "Stay alertâthat womanâs not finished yet. I mean, sheâs probably not even human."
"Not human?" Ais froze.
"Not human?" Asfi also heard Riezelâs words, stunned. "W-What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what it sounds like." Riezel said flatly. "Forget her freakish strength and regenerationâher skin alone is absurdly tough. If I punch her now, Iâd end up hurting myself."
Indeed, the reason his hand was bleeding was not that he got hit by Revis but because striking her hardened body had caused the shock to rebound on his own hand.
âEven Gareth doesnât have that level of endurance, does he?â Riezel thought inwardly.
Gareth Landrock, one of the Loki Familiaâs top executives, was an extreme vanguard-type adventurer.
And what did
âextreme vanguard-typeâ
mean?
It meant someone who could perform far beyond a normal vanguardâsomeone with extraordinary durability and power.
From Riezelâs understanding, there were four main reasons he could do that.
First, Gareth was a dwarfâa race famed among the Lower Worldâs demi-humans for their unmatched strength and naturally durable bodies.
Second, his STR was S-rank, the highest in Loki Familia, and aside from Riezel, he was the only one to train two of his basic abilities to that rank.
Third, nearly all of his development abilities enhanced STR and END, providing further boosts.
Finally, he possessed two skillsâone that amplified STR and one that amplified ENDâfurther reinforcing those basic abilities.
Because of all that, Gareth was known as the strongest dwarf in Orario, and in terms of raw STR and END, even the cityâs only Level 7, Ottar, might not surpass him.
In fact, when he stood at the front lines as a living shield, even Riveriaâs wide-area annihilation magic, known as Orarioâs strongest magic, might not bring him down.
Yet even he couldnât match the sheer endurance Revis displayedâthey were simply not in the same league.
"Her skinâs about as tough as a Black Rhinoâs from the 51st Floor." Riezel stated calmly before everyone. "Add her feral attack patterns, and sheâs no humanâsheâs more like a monster from the Dungeon."
Needless to say, that was why he had called her monster lady.
"Besides, she took my magic head-on and only had her hand torn upâthat alone proves how unnatural she is."
Ignoring the gasps of those around him, Riezel continued indifferently.
"Maybe I shouldnât be trading blows with her in my current state."
It went without saying that Revisâs STR and END far exceeded Riezelâs current suppressed state.
However, in DEX and AGI, he had the upper hand.
Coupled with his superior technique and experience, he could fight herâwhose power rivaled a Level 6âon even ground as a Level 5.
And when factoring in magical ability, he held a clear advantage.
Of course, Asfi and the others had no idea he was calculating all thatâthey simply looked on in confusion and disbelief.
"If sheâs not human... then what is she?" Asfi blurted out.
Unfortunately, no one answered her question.
*BOOM!*
As if offended by their chatter, Revis exploded out from beneath the rubble, scattering debris in every direction.
"I see nowâthat white-haired bastard wasnât wrong. Youâre just as troublesome, little swordswoman."
Revis stepped out, drenched in blood, her missing arm and brutal wounds seemingly meaningless as she moved without hesitation.
"To think Iâd face two troublesome adventurers at once... it seems things arenât in my favor."
Wiping the blood from her face with a rough gesture, Revis stared straight at Riezel and Ais, causing the nearby members of the Hermes Familia caught in her gaze to feel a chill run down their spines.
"No choice... retreat."
As smoke rose from Revisâs wounds and residues of magical energy floated around her body as it began to self-heal, she turned and ran back the way she came.
"Waitâ!"
Ais gasped in surprise.
"Stop her!"
"Stop!"
"Running?!"
Asfi and the others shouted instinctively.
*BANG!*
Riezelâs eyes flashed as he kicked off the ground, darting after Revis.
"Violas!"
Revis exclaimed coldly without turning back, making the surrounding flesh-like walls begin to writhe violently.
*BOOM!*
A giant man-eating flower monster burst out of the wall.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
Soon, countless others erupted from the ground, walls, and ceiling, blocking Riezel and the othersâ path.
*SCREEEEEECHHHâ!!!*
In an instant, their deafening screeches reverberated through the green, flesh-like passage, shaking the ceiling until chunks of rock and dust rained down.
"More of them?!"
Asfi cried out in distress.
"So many!"
"Are you fucking kidding me?!"
"Dammit!"
All the members of the Hermes Familia, led by Lulune, wailed in despair.
"Riezel!"
Ais shouted, chasing after Riezel.
Riezel, just like before, ignored the monsters completelyâcharging straight into their midst, seemingly planning to break through again to catch Revis.
As the monsters lunged at him, snapping and lashing their tendrils, his speed and technique let him slip through their attacks like wind itself.
Sometimes he leapt onto their bodies, sprinting along their flesh, while at other times he wove left and right to dodge the barrage of tendrils, and when evasion wasnât possible, he sliced through them in one motion, never slowing down as he pursued Revis.
"Unleashed streak of light, bow limbs of the holy tree. You are an expert of the bow."
Before long, a calm yet solemn chant echoed from Riezelâs lips as he darted through the air like an acrobat.
"Get them!"
Sensing the threat behind her, Revis called out coldly without turning her head.
"Time for you all to play your part!"
At these words, Ais and the others, still fighting the monsters, noticed something.
"Above!"
Ais shouted a warning, but Riezel had already sensed it, having looked up the moment the danger revealed itself.
At this moment, numerous figures were clinging to the fleshy walls, and as he charged forward, they leapt down one after another, landing directly in his path.
They were robed figures, radiating a strange and unsettling aura.
"Why are there so many people here?!" Asfi exclaimed in shock.
"They..." Ais muttered, feeling a sharp pain in her head as she stared at them, the aura they gave off feeling eerily familiar.
Apparently, she knew these peopleâno, she knew of a group that carried such an aura.
They were figures buried deep in her memoryâpeople who had once left a lasting impression but had long since faded from her recollection with the passage of time.
However, before Ais could remember who they were, Riezel moved first.
"Wind Breathing - Second Form - Claws-Purifying Wind!"
Riezel unleashed four claw-shaped wind slashes, the slashes tearing through tendrils and monsters alike as they streaked toward the robed figures.
But shockingly, the robed ones were still fearlessly charging forwardâstraight toward Riezel.
They werenât fast, nor did they seem strong, clearly not high-ranked adventurers, yet their presence and expressions carried a grim resolve, like soldiers prepared to die for their cause.
In the next moment, they spread their arms wide, completely unguarded, and threw themselves at him.
*BOOM!*
Riezelâs wind slashes struck their path, blasting them back with powerful gales, but at that instantâ
"O god, accept my sacrifice..."
"Guide our foolish souls across the river of death..."
"Let us reunite with our beloved..."
"God..."
"God..."
As these murmurs resounded, flames suddenly ignited upon their bodies.
*BOOM!*
One of the robed figures exploded midair, blooming into crimson fire.
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
One after another, the robed figures burst into explosions, as if theyâd been carrying bombs on their bodies, their fuses lit long ago, their deaths coming in a chain of fiery detonations.
In an instant, the flames devoured their bodies and swept outward, consuming both the monsters and Riezelâs advancing figure, while the green, flesh-like passage was dyed a blazing red.
It was tragic yet magnificent.
===
[A bonus Chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
[Support me and read next Chapters early at: patreon.com/VALRRR]