The battle raged in the Hevea Forest.
Enzo's subordinates continued to attack relentlessly. Luckily, I had used the San Fulgen and San Lucia family techniques, allowing to fend them all off with the surrounding water and ice swords.
"You're dead, brat," said a man dressed like a bandit.
The man tried to attack with a spear. But I grabbed the handle of his spear and struck him in the stomach with the blunt end. The man was thrown back quite a distance. He got back up, but I quickly threw my spear at him.
~Wind Ballista~
I imbued the spear with dense wind magic before throwing it. The spear aid straight for his chest, piercing it. The man fell to the ground with a hole in his chest.
anwhile, Javier and Enzo were watching Rid's battle with the Duke's knight
"Rid can kill people so easily. It seems like Rid was the one who killed the knights of the Duke San Minerva when they tried to kill him," Enzo thought.
"That commoner, how could he imbue his own magic into that knight's spear?" Javier said.
"The weapons those knights used were mass-produced. So there was no ownership contract for them. It's natural for Rid to be able to imbue them with magic. But the weapon we're going to use is different because it was made specifically for us. So even if he could seize it, he wouldn't be able to use magic on it," Enzo said, holding a white sword with a blue hilt.
The sword looked like a real one, unlike the academy sword Enzo usually carried. anwhile, Javier also carried a real sword with a red hilt at his waist.
"I see. By the way, young master Enzo, may I join their battle? I'm bored just watching. Besides, I want to kill Rid Archie with my own hands," Javier said.
"Go ahead. I don't mind if you join the battle. I'll continue to observe the battle and join in later if needed," Enzo said.
"Ok," Javier said.
Javier imdiately headed towards Rid, who was fighting the knights.
anwhile, I was currently fighting the man and young girl I'd fought earlier. The man was trying to attack with punches and kicks. But his punches and kicks weren't ordinary. Every ti they hit an object, like a tree or the ground, they would instantly shatter. I suspected the man was channeling a significant amount of mana into each punch and kick.
The man intended to hit square in the head, but I deflected his blow by striking his arm with my palm. The blow deflected and just missed the side of my head. Seeing an opening in his defense after he missed, I prepared to counterattack.
"I'm still curious about that strange body of his. If regular Mana punches don't work, I think I should try the Mana punch the cat Demi-Human I fought a while ago," I thought.
I prepared to strike him with a palm strike.
~Palm Shockwave Punch~
I struck the man squarely in the center of his chest. Blood profusely gushed from his mouth and was sent flying backward. He was sent flying into Enzo's electric cage. He was electrocuted, and his body was charred. Afterward, the man fell.
After I knocked the man out, it was the girl I'd fought before who attacked again. She wasn't ard, using only her bare hands to attack . However, her hand movents were like cutting motions. Any object, such as the ground, rocks, and trees in the forest, that ca into contact with her hands were instantly cut apart. As she attacked , I took a closer look at her hands. A powerful Mana flow enveloped them, forming the shape of a sword.
"Mana Manipulation Technique, huh. No wonder she can cut anything with just her bare hands. For people who can't see the flow of Mana, the girl will definitely be underestimated because she looks like she's fighting with just her bare hands. But for those who can see, the flow of Mana that surrounds both of the girl's hands is quite dangerous because it can form like an object. Who are these people actually?,' I thought.
She tried to cut with a close-range attack using both of her hands. But I blocked both of her hands by slashing them with my sword. Each ti I slashed with my sword, I managed to injure the girl's hand, but strangely, I couldn't cut her hand even though my sword was sharpened. After blocking her attack, I imdiately kicked the girl away. The girl was sent flying after being hit by my kick, but she imdiately got up and attacked again with a wind slash from a considerable distance. I easily cut through the wind slash with my sword. After that, I imdiately darted towards the girl and launched an attack.
~Fla Sword Art: Great Fla Slash~
I launched a massive fla slash. The girl was hit squarely by the fla slash, sending her flying quite far back. The fla slash also set the trees and grass in its path ablaze. After knocking the girl away, three n dressed as bandits suddenly appeared and attacked . But I was able to withstand all the attacks they launched at .
"Seeing as they're here, it seems they managed to overco the ice and water swords I created," I thought.
The reason I created the water and ice swords from the San Fulgen and San Lucia family techniques was to hinder their movents as they tried to attack . If I hadn't used those techniques, I would have been surrounded by them all by now. I might have been able to defeat them head-on, though it would have been difficult, but I didn't want to be careless about it.
After I successfully blocked their attacks, they tried to attack again. However, Javier suddenly appeared from a different direction than the three. Javier was still quite a distance from , but Javier imdiately tried to attack with a long-range slash.
"You're dead, Rid!!!!," Javier said.
~Fla Magic: Great Burning Slash~
Javier launched a massive flaming slash at . I prepared to block the attack.
~Secret Sword Art: Elental Flow~
~Deflection~
I deflected the flaming slash towards three n dressed as bandits who were attempting to attack again. The flaming slash struck them squarely. All three were burned to a crisp and killed instantly. After deflecting Javier's slash, I prepared to counterattack him.
~Advanced Glacier Thrust~
I launched a long-range thrusting attack with my ice-enchanted sword. But just before the attack hit Javier, a figure in a robe suddenly appeared in front of him and took his place, taking the blow. The figure was blown away by the attack, along with Javier, who was behind him. They were both thrown quite far back.
"Those cloaked n, why have they been protecting Javier from every attack I've thrown at him? Are they so kind of experintal project or puppet, tasked with protecting their master? It seems reasonable to think so, because the young man and girl I fought seed expressionless. In fact, they didn't even show any expression when they were attacking or being attacked by . They were like test subjects who had lost their expression. But if their duty was to protect their master, they should have chosen to protect Enzo over Javier, given Enzo's superior status," I thought.
As I was thinking this, a barrage of wind slashes suddenly appeared, aid at . I quickly cut through all the wind slashes. The slashes that were cut through only passed , but they continued to advance, cutting through the trees behind .
"These wind slashes, could she still be alive?" I thought.
I looked in the direction the wind slashes were coming from. It turned out to be true that this slash ca from the young girl I had previously sent flying with my fire slash. There were quite serious burns on thar girl's body. Even so, the girl continued to swing both hands to create slashes of wind magic to attack without caring about the burns she had suffered.
Furthermore, the girl's clothes were also badly damaged from the fire. This allowed to see her entire body that had previously been covered by the clothes. I examined her body closely while continuing to cut through the wind slashes aid at . I noticed a jet-black pattern on the girl's body. The pattern hadn't been visible before when the girl was still covered, but because her clothes were now badly damaged, the pattern on her body was clearly visible.
"A pitch-black pattern, could it be...?" I thought.
I was a little surprised at that thought, but suddenly, two n dressed as bandits appeared from beside and attempted to attack while I was focused on cutting through the wind slashes aid at . Seeing this, I attempted to deflect the two wind slashes aid at and direct them towards the two n.
~Secret Sword Art: Elental Flow~
~Deflection~
As the two wind slashes ca my way, I imdiately deflected them back towards the two n. The two n were struck by the two wind slashes I deflected. The wind slashes struck both of their necks, severing them, decapitating them, their heads. After that no one ca to bother anymore and I could focus on continuing to withstand the wind slashes.
"Those pitch-black marks on various parts of their bodies—aren't those the hallmarks of the Demon race? Now that I recall, the girl and the young man I defeated earlier also had pitch-black eyes. It's exactly the sa as the Demon race traits that Mr. Alan ntioned earlier. But their pupils appear to be the sa as those of humans,"
"Mr. Alan said that Demons have different pupil shapes, just like Angels. Does that an they aren't true Demons, but rely experintal subjects made from Demon corpses or organs, just like the Elf heart subjects ntioned by Miss Karina? If so, where did they get the Demon corpses for their experints? San Fulgen is a long way from the border between the Northern and Southern continents, so it's impossible to obtain Demon corpses so easily. For now, I'd better not think about that and focus on fighting them first."
"If they are indeed Demon-related subjects, it makes sense why they weren't seriously injured by my attack. Their bodies are already like those of a very powerful Demon race. If I want to defeat them, it seems I'll have to destroy their entire bodies."
"Just like when that man was hit by Enzo's electric cage, which instantly charred and destroyed him, preventing him from getting back up, or I'd have to cut off his head. No matter what creature or race it is, cutting off or destroying their head will kill them instantly. But I can't even cut off their hands, even if my sword is sharpened, let alone cutting off their arms. And I don't have a technique to kill a Demon right now," I thought.
I continued to think of a solution while continuously cutting off the wind slashes the girl was throwing at relentlessly. The girl didn't seem to tire even though she was attacking relentlessly. A few monts later, I finally found a solution to counter her.
"Looks like I should try using that technique against her," I thought.
After finding a solution, I stopped cutting off the wind slashes and imdiately ran to the side to approach the girl. The girl then changed her direction and continued attacking with her wind slashes. I continued running, dodging the wind slashes, readying my sword to attack her. When the distance between us was close enough, I imdiately shot towards the girl. I imdiately attacked the girl with my sword, which had been imbued with a considerable amount of mana.
~Secret Sword Art: Dragon Slayer Technique: Dragon Neck Slasher~
I struck the girl squarely in the neck. In an instant, the girl's head was separated from her body. The girl imdiately fell after her head was severed.
"The Demon race's bodies are indeed strong, but their bodies aren't as tough as those of the Dragon race. So, the ~Dragon Slayer Technique~ should be enough to cut through their bodies. But it seems this technique only works against low-level Demons. I doubt it will be useful against high-level Demons, although I don't know if their bodies are as durable," I thought.
After I successfully felled the girl, a powerful electric magic attack suddenly ca towards . I imdiately prepared to counter the attack.
~Secret Sword Art: Electric Slayer Slash~
I imdiately slashed the attack, causing it to lose its power and fall to the ground. After that, I imdiately looked in the direction the attack had co from.
"It seems like you're willing to get involved now, Enzo," I said.
From where the electric attack had co from, Enzo was walking toward . His body was currently shrouded in a dense electric magic that obscured his true form, even his face. He appears to be wearing armor made of electric magic to protect his entire body. Furthermore, Enzo was holding a sword imbued with powerful electric magic. The sword was much longer than a typical sword.
Besides Enzo, the people who had previously surrounded had also returned to approach . Javier also approached , already wearing his fire armor made of magic, just like Enzo.
"Bastard, you've already knocked out twice today. I won't forgive you," Javier said.
Not only Javier and Enzo, but several people wearing hoods were also now wearing armor made of elental magic. Since I'd already taken care of so of them, there were now only 15 bandits left, three hooded and elental magic armor, three hooded and unarmored, and Javier and Enzo.
"That leaves 23," I thought.
anwhile, Enzo, who was walking toward , raised his sword. He seed ready to attack again.
"I knew you were strong, Rid. But I didn't expect you to be this strong. I initially thought you'd be easily dealt with by these people while I was just watching, but I was wrong. You killed several of these people easily, including the two 'subjects'. Looks like I'll have to personally take you down," Enzo said.
-To be continued
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