Inside a crystalline cave, a blonde young man panted in exhaustion, sheathing his tachi back in its scabbard as two Stabber Shardlings dissipated into red cubic particles behind him.

He only got one additional point in strength this time. However, that was enough for Daru.

What mattered more to him was that he had fun fighting the large group of lethal yet fragile swordspawns.

There were a few close calls, and he was bleeding quite heavily himself, but in the end, he was the victor and was able to kill all thirty-four Stabber Shardlings.

He also learned a lot in this battle regarding the matter of fighting off a party or two of assassins, a huge part of which turned out to be positioning and being calm at all times.

Perhaps this experience would help him in the future.

After all, unlike Neo-Earth, the Myriad Sword Realm was more brutal and primitive. A majority of disagreements are resolved through swords.

The good thing was that one would at least have a chance to fight off multiple attackers here.

…Daru, unfortunately, had to rest for a while, as he was running dangerously low on hitpoints and had a level three bleeding status active.

Only around ten minutes later—once his hitpoints were back to more than ninety percent—did he stand up and start collecting the crystals.

He got eight hundred more, increasing his total to a whopping 3,800 Actualizer Crystals, though Daru didn't really appreciate them as much as they deserved to be.

Yet…

Once he was done, he immediately headed for the only path that was available.

He had a good feeling that the exit was there.

What he didn't notice was that the crystalline crag at the centre of the cavern shifted the moment he left.

Daru looked around, senses on high as he journeyed.

He didn't dare let his guard down.

Luckily, the journey was peaceful, and to make things better, he didn't encounter any forks.

The path only continued forward, very much the same as the one he came from when he got sucked in by the glowing crystal mural, reinforcing the feeling that he was indeed headed for the exit.

Daru felt a bit excited.

While gaining free attribute points from the impish swordspawns gave a different sense of satisfaction, he had to admit that he was growing tired of this place and wanted to fight new opponents.

The fact that he couldn't give up a life, and that swordspawns level thirty and above didn't have a limited number of moves anymore, were the only two things that helped him keep going.

Around ten minutes later, he arrived at another spacious chamber—one smaller than the caverns but larger than the usual.

There was another mural similar to the one he saw outside the labyrinth.

However, this one wasn't glowing.

There were also a lot of blue crystals growing on the walls in this area, hinting that it was indeed special.

Daru attempted to harvest the growths, but unfortunately, it seemed they were only for aesthetics, as the crystals wouldn't budge or be automatically obtained upon touching.

He could only give up and shift his attention back to the dimmed mural.

Daru tried pressing his palms on it, but nothing happened.

He frowned.

He really would like to leave the labyrinth soon…

It was then that Daru suddenly heard footsteps behind him, and he quickly drew his sword, turning and assuming a fighting stance.

His eyes narrowed as a massive silhouette loomed on the path he had just come from.

For something so huge, it was a mystery to Daru how he missed this thing.

But the moment it came into the well-lit chamber, he finally understood, recognising the crystalline crag growing on its back.

As it turned out, the impish swordspawn—this one significantly taller than him—had already been in the cavern and had probably followed him here.

It was similar in appearance to a Stabber Shardling.

However, its height was more than two times that of the mentioned, weaker spawns.

It also had a lean yet fairly muscular body, had longer, flaming horns, and ultimately looked more intimidating and demonic.

==

Cryzhar Lv. 35 (Lesser Fiend)

HP: 5,000 / 5,000

==

Daru was now sure that these things indeed had the [Unholy] attribute.

After all, how could a fiend not be?

From what he read on an online article once, fiends fall under the category of special swordspawns, and it was highly likely that he would obtain a quest from this one if he defeated it.

Daru was quite glad that it was only half as tough as Lyon.

However, he couldn't be more wary of its offensive capabilities.

Energy coursing through his veins from the excitement of the upcoming battle, Daru tightened his grip and adjusted his stance to a more defensive one.

He locked gazes with the unsettling, soulless eyes of Cryzhar.

The swordspawn eerily tilted its head.

Had it been another bladeborn in Daru's stead, their hearts would be filled with fear just from the initial interaction.

The fiend was indeed fiendish.

In the next moment, it turned into a blur—one that was difficult for Daru's perception to follow.

But this didn't mean he couldn't.

Cryzhar rushed at him in a zigzagging pattern, blue dust clouds forming in its wake.

Its cleaver-like arms gleamed as they reflected the glowing mushrooms' illumination.

Daru only followed the fiend's movements with his eyes.

Then, once it was close enough, he dashed right back without a hint of fear or hesitation.

The earlier he used his lower-tier sword skills, the faster they would go on cooldown. He would then be able to use them more times.

This was one of the things he learned from his constant battles.

'Now!'

Arriving within striking distance, Daru dodged Cryzhar's opening cross-slash attack by jumping over it, turning into a red tornado and slashing at the fiend's head.

*CLANG!*

A clanging sound rang as what would've normally been a lethal blow was only able to crack the unexpectedly tough skull of Cryzhar.

Nonetheless, the damage wasn't small:

[-500!]

A clean ten percent of the fiend's total hitpoints.

Cryzhar didn't seem to care much about the strike, though, immediately turning and widening its stance.

Then, with strange pivoting steps, it continuously slashed at the air, sending shimmering crescents Daru's way as he gracefully landed with a well-practised motion.

His eyes narrowed upon witnessing the fiend's attack, observing carefully for a moment before shifting his attention to the crescents.

He then tactically began retreating, his steps firm with every defensive slash that deflected the sword projectiles.

To his bewilderment, the moment he returned his focus to Cryzhar, the fiend was suddenly nowhere to be found.

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