Chapter 213

A breathless battle.

Blood splattered, and wounds multiplied.

On both sides.

A precarious balance, like walking on thin ice.

But I knew.

That if this continued, we would be at a disadvantage.

Because I could feel my own limits approaching.

I had worked harder than anyone, but it still wasn’t enough.

To endure a fight of this extremely high level.

‘I’ll make a gamble.’

Assessing the situation, I decided to make a bold move.

If even one of us fell, the balance of the fight would shift drastically.

I had to make a gamble before that happened.

‘I’ll give him an opening.’

You can’t gain anything without risking something.

You have to take risks to reap the rewards.

I had to create a weakness.

Naturally.

That way, he would lunge at me to tear into my flesh.

I would target that moment.

‘Give him flesh, take his bone.’

That’s how I would break the balance of the fight.

Of course, it wouldn’t work with ordinary methods.

That’s why I had saved a technique I had never shown before.

‘The Swindler’s Illusion Sword.’

It would work if it was the first time.

I was confident.

Because I knew that a technique without confidence was meaningless.

‘Alright, now.’

I sensed the timing was right as Gulshan charged towards me.

I immediately unleashed a counterattack.

– Rotating Slash Form.

It was a sharp technique that could catch an attacker off guard, but Gulshan had already seen it once.

It meant it wouldn’t work.

But that was what I was aiming for.

“Hmph.”

Gulshan scoffed, as if it was pathetic.

His eyes and body were perfectly following the timing of my rotating slash.

Clang!

He deflected my sword with his left hand and kicked my abdomen with his right foot.

It was a powerful blow that could rupture my internal organs if it landed.

“Ugh!”

I barely managed to twist my body and dodge.

His kick grazed my side.

But my balance was already half broken.

Gulshan wouldn’t miss that.

Thud!

He immediately moved his other foot and tripped me.

My body lost its balance and collapsed backwards.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

I fell on my back, unable to even break my fall.

Anyone could tell.

That this was the worst possible situation.

It meant that for Gulshan, this was a golden opportunity he couldn’t miss.

“Heh.”

Gulshan, with the eyes of a predator pouncing on its wounded prey, immediately attacked me as I lay sprawled on the ground.

“No!”

“Senior!”

Elaine and Annette’s urgent cries reached my ears.

But it was probably too late.

It was a moment where everything would be decided in a split second.

Whoosh!

His blazing black hand struck down towards my heart.

My sword also moved.

My body writhed as much as possible.

A desperate struggle, fueled by the will to survive.

Did my struggle work?

Click!

First, my sword’s defense managed to slightly alter the trajectory of his black hand.

Second, my writhing body avoided a fatal blow.

Thud!

His black hand pierced through my right pectoral muscle, just below my shoulder.

Excruciating pain shot through my brain.

“Aaaaaargh!”

A scream of pain escaped my lips.

I could see Gulshan smirking in my blurred vision.

For a brief moment.

But then.

“Huh…?!”

His expression suddenly turned to confusion as he looked down at his left side.

It was understandable.

Because there was an arrow embedded deep in his side, piercing through his flesh.

Confusion, disbelief, bewilderment, pain…

I could see his frozen gaze, filled with a mixture of complex emotions, turning towards me.

At that moment.

I immediately pushed the arrow in as deep as I could with all my might.

Thud!

“Aaaaaargh!”

Perhaps because he had a low pain tolerance due to his superhuman abilities, Gulshan screamed in agony, his face contorted.

Then, with bloodshot eyes, he tried to move his black hand again.

To tear me apart.

I didn’t have the strength to stop him.

Not me.

Whoosh!

A spearhead, tearing through the air, reflected in my eyes.

A spearhead, imbued with silver aura.

“Aaaaaargh!”

Gulshan, as if frustrated that he had to dodge, let out a roar and moved away from me.

But his movements were already erratic.

My gamble had clearly worked.

I had deliberately created a weakness by using the same technique I had shown him before.

I had deceived him with my desperate struggle for survival and stabbed him with the arrow the moment I was hit.

The perfect execution of the Swindler’s Illusion Sword.

A triumphant smile appeared on my lips.

But I couldn’t get up.

I didn’t have the strength.

Because I was seriously injured.

But it was okay.

Because I had reliable friends and juniors here.

“Senior!”

Annette, her face filled with worry, hurriedly approached me and sang a healing song.

Her eyes were glistening with tears.

I smiled, feigning composure despite my lack of strength.

“It’s okay. I’m not going to die.”

He’s the one who’s going to die.

As if responding to my thoughts, Gulshan’s scream of agony rang out.

“Aaaaaargh!”

Ice shards were piercing through Gulshan’s body.

Anyone could tell.

That Gulshan was going to die, and we were going to win.

It was then.

“Huh?”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

We heard the sound of someone pounding on the ice wall.

* * *

“Ugh… This… This can’t be! It can’t be! For me to be… to be defeated by brats like you…! Gah… ?!”

Leon’s spear pierced through Gulshan’s body.

Thud!

Gulshan’s body collapsed backwards, his eyes wide with resentment.

At that very moment.

Shatter!

The ice wall shattered into pieces.

And.

“Help!”

Lucia, her words barely coherent in her desperation, cried out.

She was covered in blood from head to toe.

“S-Save me, Team Leader!”

Allen specifically called out to me.

…I’m half dead myself, who am I supposed to save?

Leon’s eyes wavered.

He seemed shocked that his own brother had called out for someone else first in a moment of crisis.

Well, you should have treated your brother better.

“Everyone, be careful!”

Camian’s urgent warning.

That’s more like a protagonist, I thought.

Just then, the target of his warning appeared.

Along with Slain.

Thud!

Slain, sprawled on the ground.

Natasha was on top of him.

Huh? He’s going to die!

The moment I sensed that, my body was already moving.

I threw the Turtle Sword with all my might.

Whoosh!

Natasha’s movement, about to kill Slain, stopped.

Her Intangible Sword was directed at my sword, not Slain.

Swish!

Clang!

My sword was repelled with a single swing.

But I had bought some time.

At the same time, Leon, Lucia, and Camian charged towards her.

Natasha finally retreated.

As expected of a quick-witted elf.

“Are you okay, Slain?”

Lucia hurriedly helped Slain up.

“Damn, I thought I was going to die.”

Slain got up, looking like he had aged ten years.

I also quickly retrieved my repelled sword.

And so, a tense standoff began between one dark elf and eight humans.

Natasha’s gaze quickly scanned Gulshan’s corpse.

Her only ally was dead, so even she must be feeling the psychological blow.

…Or so I thought.

I saw Natasha swing her Intangible Sword.

A large, uncharacteristic movement.

A sudden surge of ominousness.

A chill ran down my spine, and alarm bells rang in my head.

A shout escaped my lips without thinking.

“Everyone, get down!”

I grabbed Annette and lowered myself to the ground.

I could see my other comrades reacting reflexively to my shout and ducking as well.

Whoosh!

A sharp sound, as if the air itself was being torn apart.

A cold wind grazed our heads.

A chilling premonition sent shivers down my spine.

Only then did I realize.

…That was a blade.

Screech!

As if to answer my thoughts, a horizontal slash appeared on the wall in the distance.

“Wh-What the hell?!”

Slain shouted in shock.

“Th-The blade reached all the way there?!”

Lucia’s eyes were about to pop out.

“Whaaat?! A b-blade?! Th-That’s impossible…”

“Ugh, this is not fair! My father said fighting should be honorable! Why are you cheating?!”

Annette and Allen exclaimed in horror.

Honestly, I felt the same way, but now wasn’t the time.

“Don’t give her an opening!”

I shouted urgently.

Fortunately, some of my comrades reacted even before my shout.

A rain of ice shards poured down from above like a torrential downpour.

Leon was already charging towards Natasha.

Natasha’s Intangible Sword drew four lines in the air above in an instant.

Swish!

Crackle!

The rain of ice shards was shattered into fragments by the invisible blade.

Ice Rain, neutralized.

But Leon, seizing the opportunity, had already reached Natasha.

Boom!

He stomped his foot on the ground, and a lightning-fast thrust was unleashed.

I could tell it wasn’t just an ordinary thrust.

‘That’s…’

The Benesse family’s secret technique, Infinite Strikes.

As its name suggested, it was an all-out offensive technique that disregarded defense, aiming to break and crush the opponent with a barrage of attacks until they were defeated.

It meant that Leon had recognized that this was the moment to risk everything.

“First Strike!”

Swish!

Natasha dodged the swift spear thrust aimed at her neck by bending her body backwards.

But this was just the beginning.

“Second Strike!”

Whoosh!

His target wasn’t just one point.

This time, it was her lower body.

Natasha’s foot stepped back.

He had succeeded in forcing her back with just two thrusts.

“Third Strike!”

Moreover, it wasn’t just thrusts.

The tip of his lightning-fast spear blade flickered like an illusion.

Swish!

A sudden horizontal slash.

Most opponents would be caught off guard and fall from this unpredictable attack.

That was the terror of Infinite Strikes.

But.

Thud!

Natasha immediately kicked off the ground, spun around in the air, and landed.

She had even dodged the surprise attack.

But Leon wasn’t fazed.

“Fourth Strike!”

He shouted, announcing his fourth attack.

But it was both the fourth strike and not the fourth strike.

Because it was an Illusion Strike.

The spearhead suddenly split like a snake’s tongue, targeting two points.

Her upper body and lower body.

An attack that would inevitably catch anyone off guard.

The moment they hesitated, it would be the end.

At that moment.

“Are you done?”

Natasha’s Intangible Sword drew a circle in the air.

A rotating slash.

Clang!

“Ugh!”

Leon’s spear was repelled upwards.

His figure faltered.

A deflection that instantly created an opening.

The Benesse family’s secret technique was broken with a single blow.

It was dangerous.

Too dangerous.

But.

“Don’t let her get away!”

“Stop her!”

Slain and Lucia were already charging towards Natasha.

An ice spear was already flying towards Natasha’s abdomen.

“This is getting annoying.”

Natasha, her eyes narrowed, swung her Intangible Sword with an irritated movement.

Thwack!

The ice spear was cleanly bisected.

But Natasha, who had bisected the ice spear, suddenly turned around and started running.

Towards the altar.

I realized that she was giving up on fighting and trying to grab the item and escape.

“Put up an ice wall, Elaine!”

I shouted urgently.

Whoosh!

Elaine erected an ice wall in front of the altar.

I was already running.

My comrades also ran.

I saw Natasha swinging her Intangible Sword at the ice wall.

She was trying to break through it quickly and take the item.

Clang!

Shatter!

The ice wall shattered effortlessly.

But behind it.

Another ice wall stood firm.

She had erected multiple ice walls from the beginning.

“You’re really going all out.”

Natasha frowned.

Then she suddenly pulled back the hilt of her bladeless sword.

Another large movement.

I immediately realized that she was trying to cut through the ice walls in one go.

“Moon Splitter.”

Natasha chanted the name of the technique for the first time.

That seemingly unnecessary act of bravado looked so cool when she did it.

The sword moved.

Whoosh!

Crackle!

Multiple ice walls were cut through at once.

And they were Ice Walls cast by Elaine, the genius mage, in multiple layers.

It was an awe-inspiring sight.

But.

The distance had closed.

Clang!

Crackle!

The ice fragments shattered and scattered.

In the meantime, the distance closed even further.

But.

‘Too late.’

I was certain.

That I couldn’t reach her before Natasha.

The moment I realized that, I drew my bow and nocked an arrow.

Rapid fire.

Whoosh!

The arrow, fired, struck the chest a hair’s breadth faster than Natasha.

The chest, lifted into the air by the force of the arrow, flipped open, and its contents spilled out.

It was…

‘Eyes?!’

Two large, unidentified eyeballs scattered in the air.

“Catch them!”

I shouted urgently.

Leon and Natasha, who were closest, moved.

But their movements diverged.

Because the eyeballs had scattered.

Thud!

Thud!

They leaped.

Each grabbed an eyeball and landed.

“Sigh, seriously…”

Natasha covered her forehead with her hand, frowning.

“