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Ryoji could indeed only apply one ability setting at a time. But that didn't mean he could only bestow it on a single target. In the past, he had poured all his magic power into a single blade simply because he had too little magic power to spread it out.
But now, with his magic power having made great strides, even after bestowing Divine Speed on several different objects, he still had power to spare. Naturally, he could now imbue all three sword pieces with supersonic Divine Speed.
"Shuā!"
A series of faint sonic booms suddenly rang out.
The three sword pieces, propelled with supersonic force, whipped up intense shockwaves as they streaked fiercely toward the monster's upper body!
Silver flashes streaked by at lightning speed. In an instant, the battle had already been decided. The grotesque monster seemed to have some level of sentience.
She instantly sensed a thick aura of death looming over her and reflexively gathered the tentacles around her body, instinctively trying to block the strike.
But it was utterly futile.
Just a moment of blurred vision,
The sword pieces tore through the air, like torpedoes fired in unison, breaking through the sea.
The first two sword pieces smashed the tentacles blocking the path to pieces, and the final light-blade pierced through the remaining layers of tentacle defenses and drilled straight into her forehead.
"Eh…ah…!"
She still looked utterly stunned.
A few garbled low moans squeezed out from her throat. Then, just like an ordinary monster, her massive body slowly faded and vanished.
She didn't even get the chance to showcase her formidable power, Ryoji had taken her out first.
"Hoo…" Ryoji let out a deep breath.
His current magic power was roughly six times what it had been before receiving his Blessing (Falna).
Since he'd used some special abilities earlier, his magic wasn't at full capacity, and what he just used was everything he had. If she hadn't died from that, his only option would've been to run at full speed.
"This Magic Stone?"
Ryoji stepped forward and picked up a Magic Stone from where the female-type monster had fallen. Unlike the usual bluish-purple crystals found in other monsters, this stone shimmered with a prismatic glow at its core, clearly different from anything that came from the Dungeon.
"I'll leave this for Finn to investigate later." Ryoji pocketed the stone into his belt pouch, then turned and began chasing in the direction Ais had gone.
Ais and the red-haired woman continued to clash as they moved toward the town.
"What's going on?" The red-haired woman was utterly shocked.
Right in front of her eyes, Ais's figure suddenly vanished, and in the next moment, she was already up close, thrusting a sword straight at her chest.
It was as if she had teleported. But that was impossible; no such magic existed in this world.
Because Ais kept appearing so suddenly, the red-haired woman could only barely react when she was already face-to-face with her. Her parries and evasions were rushed and sloppy, and she could only unleash less than half her full strength.
In terms of raw ability, she should've had the upper hand, yet now she was being suppressed by some unknown technique.
"Amazing, she really leaves her opponent no time to react!"
What she didn't know was that this was actually Ais's first time using this footwork in a real fight.
Ais was both testing the technique and thrilled by its results. It was a footwork Ryoji had taught her, called "Trackless Step."
Because he absolutely refused to demonstrate it himself, Ais had spent an entire month learning it on her own. Even now, her execution was rough, with quite a few extra movements in her footwork.
"Hmph!"
The red-haired woman was growing irritated by the elusive footwork. When Ais suddenly appeared before her again, she snorted coldly and charged straight at her blade, deliberately using her left shoulder to take the hit.
With a "Puchi" sound, her left shoulder was instantly pierced through.
"So ruthless!" Even Ais couldn't help but widen her eyes, her gaze toward the red-haired woman growing more cautious and wary.
"Got you!" The red-haired woman clenched the muscles around her shoulder, gripping the silver rapier tightly with her free left hand. Then, with her right hand, she viciously swung her straight sword down toward Ais's head.
"Clang!"
Ais hastily raised her left arm, using her gauntlet to block the blow.
But even the first-tier gauntlet forged from incredibly hard metal let out sharp screeching sounds under the force of the red-haired woman's slash, as if it were reaching its breaking point.
"---Tempest!"
Ais made a snap decision.
With the brief chant complete, a surge of magic power burst from within her body, transforming into a vibrant green wind that wrapped around her, violently battering the red-haired woman from the front.
"Eh, Aaahh, !"
The razor-sharp wind cut into the red-haired woman's body, carving out countless bloody wounds and forcing a scream from her lips.
But the intense pain only triggered her ferocity. Even as her right arm's strength weakened, she launched a sudden headbutt straight at Ais.
"Duang!"
With a crisp impact, Ais was instantly dazed. The wind surrounding her dissipated, her grip on her sword loosened, and she staggered backward uncontrollably, nearly falling over.
Not good.
When it came to sheer toughness, the red-haired woman had the upper hand.
"Hah!"
The red-haired woman had a sword embedded in her shoulder, her entire body drenched in blood, and a swollen bruise on her forehead.
But she ignored her injuries entirely. After shaking her head to regain focus, she immediately charged at Ais again with her sword raised.
Ais's expression turned grave as she forced herself to suppress the dizziness clouding her mind and retreated step by step.
Her skills were largely sword-based. Her unarmed combat was average at best, and her strength was clearly inferior. She had to recover her sword if she wanted to keep fighting.
"Dá dá dá, !"
Hurried footsteps echoed from behind. The red-haired woman's instincts screamed danger. She instantly abandoned the pursuit of Ais and spun around sharply.
"--Flickering Light and Passing Shadows!"
Her vision blurred.
"Again?!"
That all-too-familiar sensation of flickering movement struck again, making the red-haired woman furious. In the blink of an eye, a blade appeared out of thin air right before her.
This technique, when performed by this guy, was many times more refined than Ais's.
And his strike came from the left, the very blind spot she couldn't defend against in her current state,
"Shrrrip, !"
"Nngh!"
Caught completely off guard, the red-haired woman let out a muffled groan.
Moments later, an arm flew through the air, severed cleanly. At the same time, the silver rapier dropped from her left shoulder, spinning as it was flung away.
"I should've killed you first!"
Clutching her severed left shoulder, the red-haired woman glared hatefully at the cloaked boy who had just passed her by. Her rage was so intense, it felt like her eye sockets were going to crack.
Just a single moment of hesitation, and her beheading strike had been interrupted multiple times by this brat who wasn't even a Level 5.
"You're not good enough!"
A cold smirk curled at the corner of Ryoji's lips.
Ais caught the rapier as it fell from the sky, then walked forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ryoji.
The two exchanged a glance, and, without a word, raised their weapons together.
Then, their gazes sharpened in unison. Blade and sword gleamed as they charged mercilessly toward the red-haired woman.
(End of Chapter)