Ch.148Starlight Scales

“Hah…!”

The woman who had been ignoring the rain of swords seemed unable to deflect this attack, instantly leaping out of the explosion’s range. Fragments of swords spread through the air in a haze, with red and blue mana rippling around them, causing successive explosions that chased after her.

Bang-! Boom-!

Se-erin was surprised by the scene she had created. The martial technique she had improvised in the urgent situation had produced quite an impressive effect. The method of colliding the energies of the Ice Dragon Sword and Fire Dragon Sword within her body to explosively increase mana came with severe side effects proportional to its effectiveness.

There was no way ordinary iron swords could withstand the collision of these two energies. That was why the dozens of iron swords Se-erin had launched suddenly exploded.

The moment Se-erin landed beside Sephiroth, blue lightning struck from the sky. It was Theo. Following closely behind, black petals rode the wind and formed the shape of a woman.

With a slight delay, the trio of Se-erin, Theo, and Flora had gathered in one place. The last to arrive was Landrock, the dwarf knight wielding a massive battle hammer.

Se-erin glanced to the side and said, “It seems they didn’t secure it separately. Quickly, get that…”

“Understood!”

At Se-erin’s words, Landrock nodded and dashed into the guild building.

Se-erin’s gaze swept the surroundings. The hazy black smoke, blood splattered across the ground, and numerous dwarf corpses strewn about revealed the tragedy that had occurred here.

It wasn’t just soldiers who had died. Following traces of powerful energy discharges throughout the area, they discovered the bodies of knights wearing armor different from the soldiers.

Se-erin’s gaze returned to the unidentified woman. Despite taking countless lives, her expression remained serene. As if their deaths had no impact on her whatsoever.

“Everyone be careful. We’ve never faced this opponent before.”

Sephiroth couldn’t bring himself to say everything was fine. They had no information about this suddenly appearing adversary. It was shocking that such a powerful individual had gone undetected by the Blue Wing.

“Seems she’s been living in hiding all this time…”

As Sephiroth finished speaking, Theo, who had been muttering beside them, vanished with a flash of blue lightning. It happened before anyone could stop him. Among everyone present, Theo had the fastest instantaneous acceleration. The others could only react after he had disappeared.

“Theo!”

Flora, moving belatedly, kicked off the ground, while beside her, Se-erin shot forward surrounded by a violent wind.

Crash-!

The blue lightning and the woman collided simultaneously. The woman, wearing a fierce smile, knocked Theo’s body aside, then extended her right fist and struck the empty air.

Boom-!

Rather than a direct hit, the impact created a shockwave. The resulting blast engulfed Theo’s body, causing the blue lightning to dim before crashing into the ground.

The opponent used close-quarters combat. No visible weapon could be seen. Her freely moving arms and legs were her weapons. Following right after Theo, Se-erin arrived before the woman and stomped hard on the ground.

With a boom, the ground rippled and a fierce gale erupted.

Whoosh-!

The unique coldness of the Ice Dragon Sword and the heat of the Fire Dragon Sword interlocked, intensifying the wind. As if forcing open insufficient space, Se-erin forcibly took control of the flow.

Her upper body was wide open. Yet Se-erin didn’t rashly reach out. She sensed deep interest in the woman’s gaze looking down at her. The hesitation didn’t last long. Se-erin immediately took a step back.

Right after that.

Crack-!

The spot where Se-erin had been standing was shattered as if crushed by something. It wasn’t that the woman wasn’t using a weapon. It just couldn’t be seen. As soon as Se-erin realized this, she shouted:

“Flora!”

Simultaneously with Se-erin’s shout, Flora appeared behind the woman, enveloped in black petals. It was a surprise attack, striking at the opponent’s blind spot at the perfect moment. However, the opponent was too formidable.

Before Flora’s sword could swing, her body was struck by something and slammed into the ground.

Crash-!

The woman hadn’t even turned around. She seemed to have known about Flora’s surprise attack from the beginning.

‘She didn’t even move her arms or legs… it’s not an ordinary weapon.’

What could it be then? Se-erin drew her Void-Cutting Sword from her waist and thrust it toward the woman. The thrust, imbued with extreme speed, shot forward as if transcending space.

Boom-!

In an instant, the thrust aimed at the woman’s chest was blocked by something invisible. The feeling transmitted from the sword’s tip was incredibly solid. Like striking against steel.

Screech-!

A brief standoff ensued. Se-erin immediately channeled mana into her sword. The mana flowing through her arm activated the runes inscribed on the Void-Cutting Sword.

Soon, dozens of swords appeared from empty air and rained down toward the woman.

Crash-crash-crash-!

The dozens of swords that poured down bounced off around the woman’s body. Through this, Se-erin could roughly guess the shape of the weapon the woman was using.

It was long and round. Like an animal’s tail or tentacle, but enlarged.

‘Is it really a weapon?’

As Se-erin pondered this question, a golden radiance approached and struck the woman’s body. It was Sephiroth.

Crash-!

The woman’s body flew through the air but stopped midair. Rather than flying through some special power, she looked as if she were hanging from something invisible.

Watching this scene, Sephiroth spoke:

“Se-erin. Did you notice?”

“Yes. Something invisible…”

“I struck quite hard but she’s fine. My hand is still tingling… She’s as solid as the empire’s walls.”

Sephiroth said this while clenching his right hand tightly. Brilliant golden mana condensed in that hand once more.

At that moment, the woman, hanging in midair, sat down on something transparent and spoke:

“Are you the ones called Blue Wing? The ones who capture and kill… reincarnators like us.”

The woman, with blue eyes, took in the ground below at a glance. What she thought would be a simple mission had attracted unexpected interference. Dealing with them wouldn’t be difficult, but she was reluctant to exert more power.

“You there. Your name?”

The woman’s gaze was directed at Se-erin. The small one was quite adorable. Having an appearance exactly to her taste naturally created a sense of fondness.

If only she weren’t looking down from above, she might have secretly taken her away.

As the woman muttered in a small voice, Se-erin answered:

“I have no name to reveal to you.”

“Don’t want to answer? Well, I heard it earlier anyway. Se-erin, was it? I’m called Elder…”

The woman, Elder, trailed off with a frown. The young man she had slammed into the ground earlier had risen and was charging toward her again.

As the blue flash shot rapidly toward her, Elder casually gestured toward the empty air. The movement resembled swatting away an insect.

Crash-!

As the transparent mass pounded the ground, the surrounding area was instantly overturned.

Crackle-

Blue electricity traced a straight line through the empty air. Theo didn’t fall. He melted into the air with the blue electricity, avoiding the attack.

“Acting so casual…!”

Just as Theo’s angry shout spread hazily, there was a crackling sound, and Theo’s form appeared right in front of Elder.

“Got you…!”

He had reached her. Theo thought so. He had swung his sword within unmistakable range. Having observed the opponent’s reaction, he knew she couldn’t dodge.

However, the next moment.

Theo was standing in a completely different place.

Crackle-!

“What…!”

Due to the sudden displacement, Theo’s slash cut through empty air. Without any warning signs, his position had abruptly changed. Flora, who had followed to launch a surprise attack after Theo, faced the same situation.

Just as she reached point-blank range, right before her thrust could touch Elder’s body, Flora’s form momentarily disappeared, only to reappear in an unexpected location not far away.

Whoosh-!

Se-erin, who had been watching this with Sephiroth, urgently stomped the ground. Elder, who had been sitting in midair, brushed her hair back once and began moving toward the guild building.

Whoosh-!

Something invisible swung widely, sweeping away everything in its path. The stone-paved ground flipped over, and half of the guild building instantly flew away. Through the gap, a small dwarf shot into the air.

It was Landrock, holding a large box in his arms. He swung his battle hammer, as large as his torso, striking something transparent in the air.

Crash-!

“Ugh…!”

Overpowered, Landrock’s body was pushed back significantly. As he fell to the ground like a meteor, the box dropped from his arms and rolled across the floor.

Between the lid of the box lying on the ground, brilliant starlight poured out.