Glacielle didn't like the comparison, but she couldn't deny it. Marshal moved with the confidence and skill of someone who had fought in thousands of real battles.
Every hit had a reason.
Every move was as good as it could be.
Every motion is purposeful; there's no waiting or doubt.
This is what decades of war brought about.
The Shadow Chimera and Thunder Behemoth had regrouped and were attacking together, so Marshal turned his attention back to them. The Behemoth tried to crush her with its strong fist while the Chimera's three heads hit her from different sides.
She used her domain buff on herself, which made her stats go up by 30%. She got a lot faster, and all of a sudden she was everywhere at once.
Her fighting style was smooth and effective, with each blade moving in perfect arcs. She ducked under the Behemoth's fist and cut its wrist tendons twice.
The huge creature's hand went limp and couldn't close.
She spun, and both blades cut through all three of the Chimera's necks in one motion. Each head fell separately, with shocked looks on their faces.
Before the heads even hit the ground, Sunfire ate the stumps.
Fourth SSR is gone.
She turned around without stopping and drove both blades up into the Thunder Behemoth's jaw. The tips went through the top of its head until the sunfire went straight into its brain.
Fifth SSR is gone.
Both fights lasted a total of fifteen seconds.
Only Corvus was left, still riding his injured Obsidian Wyvern, along with the twenty-eight drakes flying in formation.
Corvus's smile was gone. His face had changed to one that was more serious and focused.
This is how he looked when he really felt scared.
"You're not just strong," he said, and his crazy energy turned into sharp clarity. "You're experienced...!"
"This isn't your first war, is it, Marshal?"
Marshal aimed both blades at him. "I've forgotten more battles than you've ever fought, boy."
"Heh... then it's going to be my honor to be the first one to beat you here and now!!!"
The wyvern breathed shadow flame, a type of attack that mixed darkness and fire and was especially good at stopping solar magic. The flames roared toward Marshal like a wave of dark energy.
She crossed both blades in front of her chest. A wall of golden light burst forth.
The shadow flames split around it, making two trenches in the ground on either side, but they couldn't touch her.
When the flames cleared, she was completely unharmed. She hadn't even moved.
"It's my turn now."
Her legs curled up, and her muscles tensed. Then she jumped into the air in a way that shouldn't have been possible for a person.
She went straight up fifty feet and moved so fast that she left a hole where she took off.
When both blades were fully charged with solar power, they burned so brightly that it was hard to look at them directly.
"SOLAR EXECUTION: DAWN'S GUILLOTINE!"
She fell like a meteor with both blades out in an X shape. The attack cut through the air, leaving trails of sunlight behind it.
The Obsidian Wyvern tried to get out of the way, but it was too slow. The X-slash hit the shoulder joint, which is where the wing connects to the body.
Scales that could stand up to dragonfire broke like glass. The blade went right through muscle, bone, and tendon.
The wyvern's whole wing came off, and black blood sprayed everywhere. The creature screamed in pain and started to fall because it couldn't stay in the air.
Corvus had to jump out of the way before it hit. He rolled on the ground and finally reached his opponent's level.
For a short time, they were looking at each other. Marshal had her two swords ready, and Corvus held both crystal orbs in his hands like weapons.
He looked more excited than scared. His smile came back, crazy and real.
"Wow! You're the REAL DEAL! I haven't felt this alive in YEARS!"
He raised both balls. They shot out energy blasts, which were purple beams of concentrated gacha magic.
Marshal dodged, and her movements looked almost normal. The beams cut smoking holes in the ground where she had been standing.
Corvus tried to bring in more monsters in the middle of a fight by using his gacha reserves. As Marshal's sunfire burned away the summoning magic before it could finish, portal attempts flickered and died.
He used a spatial orb skill to teleport behind her. She had already seen the move coming and was turning with her blade out.
He barely had time to make an energy shield. Her attack broke the energy shield, but it provided him with enough time to teleport again.
They hit each other at an amazing speed. The battle pitted Corvus's system magic against Marshal's pure martial skill and solar power.
Energy barriers were built and then taken down. Teleport attempts were thwarted by perfectly timed blade strikes.
The first blood was drawn when Marshal's sword nicked Corvus's cheek. There was a thin red line, and a single drop of blood ran down his face.
"Oh wow...! You... actually cut me!" He touched the wound, saw that his finger was bleeding, and laughed. "Do you know how RARE that is...!? MORE THAN SSR!"
But his eyes looked different. The truth was starting to sink in.
He might really lose this fight.
"It seems like that wimp has some potential to summon you," Corvus said, his mind racing with tactical options. "You're probably the overpowered shit he was looking for!"
"I'll gladly abandon that master if he keeps acting like that and doesn't want to move on to become his very best." She said and then kept attacking.
Both blades moved in a deadly dance that made Corvus have to defend all the time. He was proficient at using his system magic, and he was probably the best gacha user she'd ever seen.
But he was still just a user, while she was an experienced soldier.
The crystal orbs on Corvus's head were always firing, with energy blasts and defensive shields overlapping in complicated ways. But Marshal's experience showed it.
She saw holes in his defense that shouldn't be there. She knew he would teleport before he did.
She could read him like a book written in a language that only veterans could understand.
Another hit got through. This one went across his shoulder.
It wasn't deep, but it was deep enough to draw more blood.
"Ah, shit...!" Corvus's smile became forced. "You're really pushing me."
Then he looked at Lucian and Glacielle, who were still recovering near the banner. He was able to figure it out right away because he was so good at strategy.
"Alright, alright..." he said, still grinning despite the disadvantage. "If I can't beat you head-on, I'll hit you where it COUNTS as MY WINNNNN...!"
He raised both crystal orbs high and screamed an order. "ALL DRAKES! KAMIKAZE FORMATION! TARGET THE MASTER AND THE INJURED WARRIOR!"
All twenty-eight of the remaining drakes dived simultaneously, ignoring Marshal entirely. They showed no intention of engaging her in battle.
Just going straight for Lucian and Glacielle at breakneck speed.
It was a cowardly move, but it was smart enough for him to get the win he wanted.
Because of the rules of the system, Marshal had to protect her Master. If Lucian died, she would have to go back to the gacha realm against her will.
Marshal was fifty feet away from Lucian. The drakes were diving at speeds faster than sound, getting faster as they fell and making desperate last-ditch attacks.
She couldn't reach them in time with normal movement.
For a brief moment, her amber eyes appeared to be in contemplation. She can either fight Corvus and maybe kill him or save her Master and let him go.
"Tch. Fucking coward tactics."
The choice was made right away. She completely left Corvus and turned her back on him to face the swarm of drakes.
Her expression showed pure annoyance at being forced to choose.
"SOLAR STEP!"
She didn't run, but she moved through space. Sunlight bent around her body, and she disappeared in a flash of light.
She showed up right away in front of Lucian, between him and the diving drakes.
The banner behind her was still giving her some protection, but it wouldn't be enough to protect her from twenty-eight hits at once.
Marshal stood still and raised both of her blades. She started spinning them in a defensive pattern so quickly that the individual weapons blended into circles of golden light that never stopped.
"SUNWALL BARRAGE!"
Every time her blades made a full turn, they shot out a solar projectile. There were dozens of golden slashes in the air, like a wall of cutting light, filling the space between her and the attacking drakes.
The projectiles struck the drakes while they were still airborne. Eight drakes fell. Twelve. Sixteen. Twenty were eliminated before they could reach the ground.
But eight got through; there were too many angles to cover by yourself. They came from all sides, with their mouths open and claws out.
Then, ice spears shot up from the ground and pierced four of the drakes on the sides. Even though Glacielle was injured and worn-out, she was able to cast one more spell.
She was on her knees with blood dripping from her mouth, but her frost fans were up.
"So... you're not a completely useless bikini warrior after all." Marshal said, her voice harsh but with a hint of approval.
"I approve."