Swords sang in metallic clangs, accompanied by the violent yet satisfying splashes of water as the battle raged on.

The B-rankers, Ahfa and Akri, simply decided to guard the crystals.

On the other hand, the A-rankers were still trying to join the battle, but they weren't successful.

An entire, unexpected minute has passed, yet the stalemate proved more stable than it seemed.

Although he could only take a defensive fighting style, Daru wasn't letting the two SS-rankers anywhere near his comrade.

They were welcome to help eliminate Kazuraga, but they weren't allowed to harm Iris.

Lothara and Ae'shkar wanted to rip their hair out in disbelief and frustration.

There was simply no way a human S-ranker could handle two SS-rankers.

If the two were to be honest, they were starting to doubt their skills.

But they were Vesharis.

Logic and efficiency first, bruised ego second.

Ae'shkar suddenly jumped back, calling out: "Lothara!"

The female Veshari SS-ranker immediately understood the plan and retreated for a moment.

Daru was granted a moment of reprieve, but his job was about to become a lot harder.

In the next moment, the A-rankers charged alongside their two leaders, curved blades ready to send their enemy back to Valmaris.

But Daru quickly realized what their plan was shortly after Ae'shkar retreated.

Assuming the proper L stance, he slashed at the air two consecutive times, his arms a blur.

A gray, spinning cross slash then shot forth, catching one of the A-rankers off guard.

The others were able to dodge to the side.

However, the Veshari with the trial name Erkhohar lost his right leg, jumping out of the way a little too late.

This destroyed their neat formation.

In the next moment, he split into two and exploded into a dash that once again caught even the two SS-rankers off guard.

He then jumped and transitioned into a Tornado Slash, taking yet another of the remaining four A-rankers out, splitting the male Veshari's head vertically into two.

Ahfa, Akri, and Asipha froze as the face of a certain female human bladeborn flashed in their minds.

The three have fought "Otsuna" before.

Naturally, they were familiar with the sword skills.

But the one in front of them is Onimaru Kunitsuna, not Otsuna, so how could the two have the exact same skillset?

They found it quite fishy.

Unfortunately for Asipha, her momentary lack of focus also became her undoing, as she became Daru's next target.

She was able to block the lunging strike, but she was front-kicked solidly half a moment later.

Asipha flew for a few meters, then tried to roll herself back to decent footing.

Unfortunately, before she could, her world once again spun. She had died a second time — an utter tragedy and waste for an A-ranker with an extremely bright future.

She would have to contemplate whether she would risk her life and continue or stop and settle for a mundane living.

Ankara, her close friend, was naturally not thrilled, gaze burning with anger and vengeance as she charged at Daru as one of the four who simultaneously did, all coming from different directions.

Daru sensed the danger, somersaulting immediately after killing Asipha to dodge the Veshari execution squad led by Lothara.

But he didn't fire a red crescent at them.

Instead, he transitioned into an Azure Sword, shooting forth towards the moonlit blur that was sneakily heading for Iris.

At least that's what it seemed.

"Ae'shkar, watch out!" warned Lothara, whose heart was shaken after witnessing the rather horrifying skill.

There was no way her comrade would survive if struck.

While the two bickered all day, they've known each other for quite some time now, as the redwood trees they lived in back in their world stood very close to each other, even though they were strangely somehow from different sub-groves due to official, absolute land borders.

Ae'shkar at least trusted her more than he did Halphar.

The male Veshari SS-ranker turned to look, almost rolling to the side to evade when he realized the azure sword wasn't descending at him.

He momentarily stopped and turned to look at where Onimaru Kunitsuna was heading, and his eyes widened.

But what could he do?

How could he or Lothara stop such an azure sword that was falling like a meteor?

The two Vesharis could only watch in horror as Daru forcefully broke the stalemate, piercing through the air with horrifying momentum.

Kazuraga noticed a little too late.

He didn't expect that the tainted brat would still have the audacity and capability to go for him when he's already fighting for both his life and the little wench's.

"MEGHEK!! HUMAN!!" he cursed in fury, attempting to minimize the damage by sidestepping.

While he was able to accomplish this desperate goal, the effects were minimal, and three-fourths of his remaining leg was torn apart.

"MEGHKKK!" The satyr hissed in anguish.

[-394,050!]

Dismemberment was another weakness of his mythical race.

A satyr's limbs do not grow back easily, requiring a number of souls, depending on their quality, to regenerate.

But there were still muscle fibers hanging on.

As long as this was the case, a satyr could regenerate.

Kazuraga broke into a cold sweat, thinking about how close he was to a really bad situation.

Daru, after piercing right through the mythical swordspawn's leg, crashed into the ground, swampwater splashing everywhere as a small crater formed.

He then quickly turned, turning into a blur, stopping mid-way, and firing a massive azure crescent that the wobbling satyr didn't expect.

Kazuraga's eyes widened at the approaching projectile.

"ONIMARU KUNITSUNA!!" the mythical swordspawn snarled venomously, etching Daru's face in his memory.

*FWING!*

The horizontal slash severed the leg completely, forcing Kazuraga to land on his amethyst katana.

[-100,250!]

The satyr stabbed his weapon deep into the ground, balancing with one arm, but as soon as he did, an icy-blue blur passed just a few centimeters to his right.

The next thing Kazuraga knew, he was falling to the ground.

A loud thud accompanied by water splashes sounded the next moment as the satyr found himself staring at the purple crystals he had embedded in the ceiling of his resting cavern.

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