Their dangerous ‘dance’ continued for a couple of minutes.
‘Now!’ thought Mikael as he once again diverted the greatsword, letting it pass to his side. This time, however, Terenei was wide open. His guard was lowered, having fallen into the rhythm of repeated failed attacks. He wasn’t particularly concerned either, as Mikael had never counterattacked before, instead focusing on provoking him. And even if Mikael did strike, Terenei was confident in his aura cloak’s ability to protect him.
That was exactly what Mikael had been counting on. In an instant, he attacked—Chained Sword Style – 1st Form: Blade Tempest.
However, this time, there was a slight adjustment. Instead of unleashing a barrage of ‘uncontrolled’ slashes, Mikael focused all of his strikes on a single target—the greatsword wielder’s exposed neck.
Terenei felt an overwhelming sense of danger and instinctively tilted his head back. This small movement allowed him to reduce the severity of the attack.
But even with that, Mikael’s surprise assault, meticulously prepared over the past minutes, wasn’t in vain. His blades slashed deeply into Terenei’s neck, the rapid flurry of strikes stacking together to sever his carotid artery. Blood sprayed everywhere as Mikael swiftly stepped back, cautious of any desperate counterattack from his mortally wounded enemy.
‘It worked,’ Mikael thought inwardly, his gaze locked onto Terenei, relieved that his plan had succeeded.
Meanwhile, the greatsword wielder staggered backward, feeling the burning pain at his neck. His hand instinctively shot up to clutch the wound, and when he pulled it away, his palm was drenched in blood. His face paled as the severity of his injury dawned on him.
Panic set in, momentarily overriding his thoughts of Mikael. He turned desperately toward the five cultists who had remained inactive, prepared for another ambush.
“E-Heal-grl—I need—heal!”
The cultists were stunned by the sudden turn of events. Just moments ago, Terenei had been dominating the fight, with Mikael only able to evade. Now, he was on the verge of death. The sheer abruptness of the situation left them frozen in shock for a few seconds before one of the mages stepped forward, light gathering around his hands.
But just as he was about to place his hands on Terenei’s neck to begin healing—
A head flew through the air, blood spraying in its wake.
The mage’s lifeless body crumpled to the ground, his head having been severed before he could even react.
Terenei stood frozen, momentarily stunned, watching his ‘ticket to life’ be slaughtered right before his eyes.
“D-Damn you!” he cursed, his gaze snapping toward Mikael, who had just decapitated the healer.
In that instant, Terenei slashed at Mikael, who swiftly dodged the attack. He had no choice—he had to kill Mikael first. If he tried to have the other mage who knew healing heal him, Mikael would simply eliminate her as well, dooming him. Without a healer, he would bleed out and die! His time was running out, his blood spilling onto the ground like a silent countdown to his demise.
The greatsword wielder rushed at Mikael, attacking in a frenzy driven by sheer survival instinct. The pressure on Mikael was far greater than before, as Terenei was entirely focused on attacking, caring nothing for defense. He knew his time was running out—he had to kill Mikael as soon as possible.
Mikael once again diverted the greatsword, but the sheer force behind it was so immense that he felt his arm bend under the pressure, his bones on the verge of breaking!
He let out a pained grunt but endured it, their swords clashing multiple times per second. Each exchange pushed Mikael further to his limits, yet he persevered, refusing to falter in this grueling battle.
This deadly dance continued for an agonizingly long minute, during which Mikael remained entirely on the defensive. But as time passed, Terenei gradually slowed, his attacks growing weaker—his massive blood loss was taking its toll!
Terenei could feel his strength waning, and desperation set in. He tried one last time to push himself, intensifying his attacks, but it was futile. Mikael, though seemingly at a disadvantage, had not sustained any serious injuries and continued to endure.
‘Why won’t you die?!’ Terenei inwardly screamed as his vision blurred.
At that moment, he realized he had only one chance left. He suddenly stopped his barrage of attacks and took a step back.
Mikael didn’t pursue him, maintaining his distance while cautiously watching. He needed to buy time, and if Terenei wanted to waste his own, all the better. Of course, Mikael remained wary, knowing that this so-called retreat had to serve a purpose.
An enormous amount of aura began to concentrate around Terenei’s greatsword. For several seconds, the energy continued to build until the weapon was practically glowing under the sheer density of aura coating it.
Terenei locked eyes with Mikael and, with a strained voice, declared, “Grl–try… sur… vie this!”
His muscles bulged grotesquely as he slashed downward, his attack carrying the terrifying illusion of being able to cleave the world in two.
Seeing this monstrous strike coming toward him, Mikael wasn’t foolish enough to try blocking it. With a quick movement, he dashed out of the greatsword’s trajectory.
‘What a wasted last stand,’ he inwardly thought.
But in the next instant, before he could even register his victory, something impossible happened—the greatsword that should have been meters away suddenly reappeared right in front of him.
Feeling a mortal threat crash over him, Mikael instinctively reacted. He burned 50% of his aura in an instant, reinforcing himself with the densest aura cloak possible. At the same time, his muscles bulged as he pushed his body past its limits, slashing upward to meet the descending greatsword.
The clash of two swords against the massive greatsword rang out like a thunderclap, the force behind the impact so overwhelming that a shockwave erupted, rippling outward for tens of meters.
The five cultists standing anxiously just ten meters away flinched as the blast of air struck them. Though they yearned to intervene, they knew their strength was meaningless in the face of such raw power. The shockwave sent them stumbling backward, their feet scraping against the ground as they struggled to stay upright.
The sheer pressure of the impact surged across the battlefield. Nearby trees groaned under the strain, their branches snapping violently as leaves were ripped away, swirling chaotically through the air.
A thick cloud of dust and debris billowed up, momentarily shrouding the scene. The grass flattened beneath the invisible force, while loose stones and dirt were sent flying, caught in the aftermath of the colossal strike.
Of course, the powerful final clash between Mikael and Terenei didn’t go unnoticed by the nearby fighters. As Amelia and Lyra separated from the three warriors they were facing, an unspoken truce formed—the cultists made no move to attack the girls.
All five of them locked their gazes onto the swirling dust cloud, anxiously waiting for the result. They all understood that the outcome of this battle would be determined by who emerged victorious between Mikael and Terenei. Those two were on an entirely different level from the others—whichever one survived would be able to single-handedly shift the tide of the fight.
Among them, the most anxious was undoubtedly Amelia. Her eyes scanned the dust cloud with growing desperation. ‘Please be safe,’ she inwardly prayed, anxiety threatening to consume her. At the same time, a crushing sense of guilt weighed on her chest—she had dragged Mikael and Lyra into this fight because she had let her anger blind her.
At that moment, the dust began to settle, and their line of sight was no longer obstructed.
“No way…Mikael!” Amelia murmured as she felt tears streaming down her face.
Beside her, Lyra stood frozen in silent shock, unable to utter a single word. At the same time, she too felt tears welling in her eyes.
The scene before them told the story of a brutal fight. Mikael was kneeling, his two swords flung away, their blades half-broken. But what truly horrified them was the state of his arms—both were bent at unnatural angles, clearly broken. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, further painting the grim picture.
Before him stood Terenei, his back facing them, his greatsword still in hand.
A wave of horror washed over the girls as they took in the scene—Mikael was critically injured, his arms shattered, while the enemy remained standing, seemingly unharmed.
Amelia sprinted toward Mikael, Lyra right behind her.
But they had barely moved a few meters before their path was blocked by the three warriors, who stood in their way with smug, mocking expressions. The one-armed cultist, in particular, smirked at them with a mixture of amusement and hatred.
“What, you want to go help him? It’s too late,” he sneered. “He never should have gone against Terenei. Now, he’ll die, so quietly stay here and watch Terenei finish him okay?”
“No! Mikael will prevail! You’ll see!” Lyra declared, her voice rising, but the slight tremble in her tone betrayed her lack of confidence in her own words.
“MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!” Amelia screamed the moment Lyra finished speaking. Without hesitation, she loosed multiple arrows in rapid succession, aiming to force the warriors to dodge and open a path for them to reach Mikael.
But their efforts were in vain. The three warriors easily stalled them—especially since Amelia and Lyra were long-range fighters. Trying to bypass three close-combat specialists was an almost impossible task.
A dull sound echoed through the battlefield, but no one paid it any attention.
Not until a second later, when Amelia’s anxious gaze flickered toward Mikael’s location—her eyes widened to an absurd degree, and an absolutely radiant smile spread across her face.
Seeing her sudden change in expression, the one-armed warrior scoffed. “I’m not dumb enough to fall for that,” he spat, keeping his focus on the fight.
But only a few seconds later, a sharp gasp from one of the other warriors made him hesitate.
“What is it—” he started, but the words caught in his throat.
The scene before him had changed entirely.
The previously ‘victorious’ Terenei was no longer standing. He had collapsed onto his back, motionless. A deep, gaping wound on his neck gushed blood, soaking his front robes in crimson.
Terenei wasn’t moving.
Meanwhile, Mikael was struggling to rise. His knees trembled, and it was clear that he was barely holding himself up, but despite his battered state—he was standing.
It was undeniable who the true victor was.
“I-Impossible… how could Terenei lose?” murmured the one-armed warrior in disbelief.
Mikael looked around, his eyes half-closed. It felt as if a truck had run him over, and the pain in his arms was unbearable.
‘Amelia, Lyra!’ he thought, forcing himself to keep going. With great effort, he got up and scanned his surroundings. Not far from him lay Terenei’s body, which he ignored. His gaze then landed on the five cultists, who were staring at Terenei’s corpse in horror. Once again, he paid them no mind. His focus shifted to where Amelia and Lyra had last been.
There they were. The two uninjured warriors and the one-armed fighter stood before them, staring at Mikael in disbelief, while Amelia and Lyra stood behind them, their eyes glistening with tears, relieved smiles on their faces. Some of those tears had already begun to trail down their cheeks.
Seeing them cry, Mikael felt his fury boil. He quickly scanned his surroundings, searching for the reason behind their distress. But thinking was difficult when his entire body was screaming in pain, especially his two broken arms.
After a quick scan, he saw nothing that could have harmed them. They were even relatively unharmed. But he didn’t care about the reason. Seeing their distress, he forced himself forward. Even in his current state, he crossed the distance between them in an instant, moving at a ‘slow’ speed of several hundred kilometers per hour.
“CAREFUL, HE'S COMING!” one of the warriors who had been fighting Amelia and Lyra shouted.
The three warriors immediately took a battle stance, but it was clear they were uneasy. They had just witnessed Mikael kill Terenei, who was far stronger than any of them. Their only hope was that Mikael was critically injured.
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