Clang!
’’Defending is all you can do?’’
Clang!
’’My lady, That is only I can do...Sorry’’
Creakkkkkk!
The clash of weapons echoed endlessly between Hector and Berry.
The battle had lasted for several minutes.
For the most part, the one with a slight advantage was Berry.
She possessed incredibly fast speed—if not to say, insanely fast.
But that wasn’t a big deal. Hector always fought like this.
He simply blocked attacks aid at him and responded whenever he spotted a weakness he could exploit.
His martial arts style was rather crude, but it fit a newbie like Hector well.
The ti he had survived in this world was too short for him to study any kind of fancy fighting skills.
Hector believed that if he didn’t have the imnse and powerful mana granted by Haley’s experint, he would’ve certainly been defeated long ago.
Hector kept a sharp eye on his surroundings while moving his feet, ready to block Berry’s path at any mont.
In a split second, he saw a flash of light coming at him. Without hesitation, Hector raised his sword horizontally to stop the sharp blade from reaching his throat.
"You’re really fast... but that’s not enough to hurt ," Hector stated coldly, gazing at her through the cross of their blades.
"Tsk. Maybe you’re right... But can you handle this?" Berry suddenly leapt back to avoid his slash, jumping a few steps away until she reached a safe distance.
She quickly sheathed her sword and dropped into an unreadable stance.
"Haha... are you planning sothing?" Hector grinned as he widened his eyes, trying to spot the mana points on her body.
"What’s happening?... Her mana... It’s growing stronger and stronger." Hector grimaced as he watched.
All of the mana threads across her body surged and rushed wildly into her right arm, the one gripping the sword still in its sheath.
"I need to stop her." Hector lunged toward her, but it was already too late.
Her mana, now separating from her body, was about to erupt. It was clear she had anticipated Hector would try to interrupt her, which was why she had kept a safe distance—enough to activate her skill.
"Damn! I should focus on defense!" Hector clenched his teeth tightly in frustration, gathering a heavy layer of mana over his body.
Then, within just a fraction of a second, Berry almost disappeared from Hector’s view, sending a jolt through his senses.
"Is she aiming for my right arm?" A chilling shiver ran down his spine as a streak of light rushed toward him.
He could track the direction of her attack thanks to his enhanced vision.
The mana bursting from her sword was simply too strong to miss—even if he couldn’t sense her presence, the energy was overwhelming.
So, he forced all of his crimson mana into his right arm and his sword, hoping to block her strike.
He had to do it fast—her insane speed couldn’t be matched.
...
’’Dinsional Slash!’’ The whispers rang out from Berry’s lips in the air.
...
Creak!
In just three seconds, Berry appeared behind Hector—as if she had teleported.
It was nothing short of incredible.
She had moved with such speed it felt like she’d used a teleportation artifact.
"Why does my master always say to keep you alive!?" Berry slowly turned her head toward Hector, who was nearly on his knees after her strike.
She furrowed her brows for a mont. Her attack hadn’t severed Hector’s right arm like she expected.
In truth, she had aid to kill him with a slash to the throat—but she held back because of Haley’s strict command to keep him alive.
"You’re unworthy of this power." Berry said in a calm, steely voice.
She believed he had only survived her early assault because of the power granted by Haley’s new experint—not from any real strength of his own.
And now, she began to grow angry as she checked the tool in her spatial system—the tool used to activate the steel collar around Hector’s neck.
It barely worked... and it was obvious that Hector had done sothing earlier. Yet, when she looked back at the steel collar on him, it still appeared normal, without any signs of damage or malfunction.
Because of that, she stared at Hector from a distance for a mont before asking a single question:
"Did you destroy the steel collar?"
Silence.
Only a faint smile appeared on Hector’s tired lips.
"W-Who knows?"
Hector slowly tried to regain his balance and stood up after a few tensen seconds.
"Fuck... that really hurts," he muttered, slowly turning his gaze to his right arm, which had been half-severed—but quickly regenerated, thanks to his special mana.
He lightly pressed on the wound to suppress the bleeding, then looked at Berry with narrowed eyes.
"Honestly, this damn steel collar is hard to destroy or even damage. I guess it must be built from so special tal or sothing." Hector thought to himself, recalling what had happened a few days ago.
Yes, he couldn’t scratch or dent it—but he had found a way to make it stop functioning.
He had used the thunder mana from his artifact to disrupt the internal structure of the steel collar—and it worked.
It couldn’t restrain him anymore. And he did the sa for his team... all of them had escaped from those cursed collars.
No one here had expected Hector to possess a B-rank artifact like that—or to have thunder mana, a rare power capable of disabling the collars in such a way.
"Don’t think you’re the only one who can use that power... That power is mine! Not sothing for trash like you!" Berry spat, glaring at Hector with red eyes that had shifted from their previous color.
Clearly, sothing had affected her.
Then, all of her mana began to shift—changing into crimson mana like Hector’s, though far more stable than his.
"Bear witness to the rhythm’s corruption."
Sinking into that sickening mana, Berry laughed maniacally, then turned her eyes to Hector, ready to finish him off once and for all.
"This ti... you won’t be able to dodge a single one of my attacks."
"You filthy rat."
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