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A short while later.
Another pair of Elite Ethereals blocked the road, leading dozens of normal ones, their ether energy even more violent than before.
One was an Armored Hati, the other a Farbauti—both common beast-type Ethereals.
Their ether-forged limbs were massive and powerful, while the heavy armor covering their bodies granted them near-perfect defense.
Compared to Dullahan and Thanatos, these two were even tougher and more durable.
Sol Mercer did not even slow down, walking straight ahead. The group of Ethereals blocking the path were treated like air.
His expression remained calm as he spoke lightly: "Taixuan Form Essence: Myriad Swords Art!"
A vast mass of energy instantly condensed into an entire ocean of sword aura. Countless blades of aura rose and fell around him.
Each strand of sword aura radiated sharp white light; as they flickered and pulsed, the air was sliced rapidly, producing a piercing buzzing sound.
Miyabi felt phantom pain across her skin, yet her ruby-red eyes shone brighter. "This is one of the forms in the [Edge of Taixuan]."
Indeed, this technique was in the golden manual she cherished like a treasure. After two weeks of training, she had made some progress.
The sword manual described the move as extremely powerful—invincible against groups.
Condense aura into blades, command blades to strike.
Where the sword points, ten thousand foes retreat!
At that moment, surrounded by sword aura, Sol had already reached the Ethereal swarm.
"Roar!"
"Grahh!"
The two beast-type Ethereals let out savage howls.
Lacking intelligence, they had only one reaction toward a human approaching—tear the intruder apart.
The Armored Hati instantly condensed a black sphere in its mouth, volatile ether energy surging to the extreme.
Farbauti slammed its massive simian arms together, producing a powerful gust.
A dozen low-level Ethereals staggered forward—some charging in melee, others firing ranged energy shots.
Shhh!
Sword aura split forth, weaving into a dense net that swept over the Ethereals, passing through them without the slightest resistance.
Sol glided past like a breeze; when he reappeared, he was already beyond the Ethereals, continuing toward the core.
Behind him, the once-lively swarm shattered explosively.
The sturdy ether armor and ether-constructed limbs broke into uniform fragments, small as grains of rice.
Before they even hit the ground, the fragments dissolved into lavender ether lights, dispersing like a beautiful mist within the Hollow.
Every Ethereal was dead.
Only a calm clearing remained, as though nothing had happened at all.
Miyabi, Yanagi, Soukaku, and Harumasa followed closely behind Sol, crossing the space once guarded by the Ethereals.
Though it was only several dozen meters, all of them felt a chill crawl down their spines.
It felt like that razor-sharp sword aura had cut across their bodies too, as if giving them a phantom taste of being sliced into pieces.
If they were in the Ethereals' place, they probably wouldn't fare any better.
At least the Ethereals died cleanly, turning into ether and returning to the Hollow—green and pollution-free.
If they were killed this way, the ground would be painted red—not elegant at all.
They continued onward, but this time, Miyabi and the others kept several dozen meters of distance from Sol in perfect wordless agreement.
It wasn't that they distrusted Sol—rather, they were avoiding getting accidentally grazed by sword aura. With so much of it, and so sharp, even one stray slash felt fatal.
Along the way, more Ethereals appeared—sometimes a dozen clustered together, sometimes over a hundred lined up to block a passage.
But under the sweeping ocean of sword aura, everything turned to dust, leaving no trace behind.
Sometimes, Miyabi's group couldn't even see what species the Ethereal was. Their vision blurred for a moment—and then only lavender motes drifted in the air.
Sol didn't move, didn't gesture—he simply walked forward. The path was carved open by sword aura itself, moving like an extension of his body, pulverizing all obstacles along the way.
"Today, he's killing Ethereals without even blinking. So brutal."
Harumasa raced forward, watching the figure ahead, his skin tingling.
He had never seen something so terrifying. Killing Ethereals was as easy as cutting grass—no, easier.
Doing literally nothing—just walking forward—and the Ethereals fell like wheat.
Even though Ethereals weren't sentient beings, and he himself had killed over a thousand before, seeing so many—strong and weak alike—die like insignificant weeds still sent shivers through him.
Those two bullets earlier that wiped out a group had already been outrageous, but at least there had been some visible action.
But this time, Sol hadn't done anything. He just spoke a technique name—and an endless storm of sword aura appeared. Too outrageous to process!
If something like that happened beside him, he'd probably be dead before realizing it.
"Rather than say he's terrifying today, it's more accurate to say he finally released his true power."
Yanagi pushed up her glasses, speaking calmly. "Remember last time? He used one Crescent Slash to clear the weak Ethereals, and in the end he used the same move to kill Bringer."
One sword technique killing two enemies with vastly different power levels—both in a single strike.
It was hard not to imagine he simply treated everything equally.
And today, every strand of his sword aura held power surpassing that previous Moonlight Slash.
The entire ocean of sword aura was beyond imagination.
She continued her deduction: "He's never shown his full strength. But today—before he leaves—maybe he set aside some restraints, or perhaps he has other thoughts. Regardless, he's letting it show."
She didn't understand the reason. If Sol wanted to show power, no one in New Eridu could stop him anyway.
Why choose today? Was he venting before leaving?
But from what she knew, Sol didn't seem like someone who cared about reputation. With this strength, getting a statue in front of the city hall would be trivial.
"Maybe… he got dumped? He wants to vent?"
Harumasa said uncertainly, "A lot of couples get really irritable after a breakup. Didn't someone in our division do that? After his breakup, the guy spent three days on overtime killing over a hundred Ethereals in the Hollow."
"No way! Big Brother Sol is so handsome—how could he get dumped?!"
Soukaku couldn't help objecting loudly.
"You never know." Harumasa shook his head. "Maybe it's a love-triangle—"
With his scout's eye, he had long seen Sol's situation.
During their mission to capture Bringer, he noticed Sol had at least three official girlfriends—and the unofficial ones were uncountable.
Shff!
A strip of sword aura grazed past his forehead, leaving a cool breeze. Harumasa shut his mouth instantly.
He regretted it the moment he spoke. What was he doing talking about this now?
He'd been startled earlier—his instincts made him slip into playful chatter.
"Love triangle what?" Soukaku looked at him curiously.
"Triangle functions! It's a really hard math topic—maybe Sol struggles with it like I do."
In truth, he had been smart since childhood and never struggled with something as simple as trigonometry.
But at a time like this, playing dumb was the only survival tactic.
Soukaku nodded firmly. "So, it's triangle functions! I heard some kids say it's really hard."
She hadn't even learned all her characters yet, but she had heard rumors of this terrifying thing.
Those strange diagrams, symbols, English words, and numbers—just thinking about them made her dizzy.
"How could that be the reason…"
Yanagi rubbed her forehead helplessly. "He created the armor of the Starlight Knight—there's no world where trigonometry defeats him."
Trigonometry was impossible. But as for what Harumasa didn't finish earlier—that actually seemed plausible.
From her observations, Sol liked teasing Miyabi. And occasionally, he would flirt habitually with her as well.
A love triangle breakup followed by a Hollow massacre? Possible—very possible.
Her glasses glinted coldly as sudden interest sparked. Compared to Sol's unfathomable strength, Sol-and-Miyabi gossip was far more intriguing.
At that moment, Miyabi suddenly spoke, her voice slightly uneasy: "He's teaching me swordsmanship."