Owari had no need to be known, and he doubted his name would spread from this until his allies got word of it. After all he killed most of Howling Wulf’s members and none of the rest saw his face, they were too far hence why they lived. One of the enemies stopped standing around and acted. She burst fire from her feet and flew towards Owari. Meanwhile another one grew flame wings which flapped sending him into the air as well. The last one pulled up a bow and prepared a ranged offensive.
The one with the wings arrived first despite leaving second. He was quite fast. He was the one with the twin shortswords. Owari swung his sword at him as the man swung his own sword as flames warped the air from the extreme heat. Owari suddenly flashed away and appeared in front of the woman. He swung his sword using dark steel fang. She intercepted with the shaft of the spear she had. Then she spun it rapidly as fire boosted the speed like a rocket. The blade sliced open Owari’s chest from his left pectoral to his shoulder.
Despite this he didn’t panic, instead he swung using another dark steel fang as his wound flashed blue and sealed up instantly. The sword sliced into her gut, splitting her open. She was shocked. She had aimed for his heart, but his sapphire shield blocked most of the force. She flashed red as her stomach sealed back up. She fell back towards the ground, but she suddenly fired out more fire from her feet and flew at Owari again. She then stabbed her spear multiple times surrounding him with spears of flame to block off his escape.
During this time the man arrived from behind and smiled as he swung his flaming blades at Owari. He used his max force attack hoping to kill him in one hit. However he suddenly vanished and the attack was sent flying straight at his ally. She barely managed to dodge using a flame jet. As they looked around the woman’s eyes suddenly went wide. “Behind you!” She shouted but she was too late.
Owari arrived behind the man and prepared to behead him when he flashed away and his previous position was replaced by a flaming serpentine dragon. It had been the man with the bow on the ground who had shot an arrow. It was quite powerful and would have hurt to be hit by it. Owari flashed down and instantly arrived in front of him much to his shock. Then he used dark steel fang to try and cut his head off. The bowman was the first to make the mistake of relying on his weapon to block the attack. Probably the last as well as his bow was split in half and his head was cut off.
The other two’s eyes went wide as saucers when they saw that. The bow that man had was made of specially forged magical steel. It was incredibly durable, yet it was split like a hot knife through butter. They were glad they trusted their instincts and dodged that attack. Owari looked up at the two remaining mid electrum ranks with a smile. The two were enraged by this of course, to lose a single electrum rank was a massive hit to them let alone three!
Owari shot up at light speed and arrived in front of the man and swung his sword using jet stream. He constantly kept up the offensive. He tried to counter but Owari would dodge the few attacks he could get in or directly slash them apart. Suddenly the woman seemed to have prepared and attacked by flying towards Owari and stabbing forward. Owari suddenly changed targets to intercept the attack. However he also mixed in metal mana into it through silver wing.
When the attacks clashed Owari’s obviously won. Not only had he built up power through jet stream, but he added silver wing to it. When the fire hit the metal and wind it was torn apart by the sheer sharpness and destructive power. The metallic wind continued forward and sliced open the woman’s chest spraying blood everywhere as she fell towards the ground. Before she recovered from the shock Owari appeared in front of her and beheaded her.
After that the man with the double swords was beyond rage. He had become totally numb. In fact he even felt afraid. He made the mistake of turning to run. At that moment Owari appeared in front of him and swung using dark steel bite. The attack split into numerous blades which came at him from numerous directions like a real bite of a beast. The blades all stabbed into him and tore him apart sending blood spraying everywhere.
After that Owari flashed to the ground and quickly flashed around the place beheading low electrum ranks like mowing down wheat with a scythe. When he was done he gave the compound the same treatment as the Howling Wulf one with a maximized metallic vortex shield. The vortex spun around slicing up the area, though it killed a lot less than the one he used at Howling Wulf’s place.
After he finished that he jumped into the air and flashed away. He arrived at his next target just like that. He was planning on going through until he killed every enemy. That last fight had cemented his level as being a high electrum rank. He had been quickly building up his mana capacity over all this time, so it was no surprise that he grew so much. Especially with all his training as well as the fact that all his attacks were very destructive. Not to mention his speed and now even his defense with the sapphire affinity.
The next enemy wasn’t so easy though. As soon as he entered the city of the Thundercloud family, a rival of the Onyx Agency, he received an attack. A bolt of lightning shot at him. He easily dodged it, but he suddenly felt danger from behind. From his back a sword tried to cut him. However he already knew there was somebody behind him. He had sensed their aura. That was why he already swung using silver wave to intercept the lightning covered sword.
The lightning and metal mana clashed and the lightning broke apart, but at the cost of making the metal mana mostly harmless. Lightning had destructive power only a step below metal so for all intents and purposes when they clashed at equal power they would cancel out. The remaining metal mana would be so deteriorated it would be harmless.
Owari and his mystery enemy had their swords pressed against one another. They both used all of their strength to send the other flying. However it was Owari who won in a battle of strength. His opponent was sent flying straight into the air. Owari then flashed forward behind the man and used earth breaker to send him flying back into his building with a slam, destroying the top few floors of the building.
The man got up completely unharmed and Owari finally got a good look at him. He was a middle aged man in blue armor, wielding a blue bastard sword. He was also a high electrum rank. He looked quite dignified as he lightly dusted off his armor as though to say ‘is that all you got’. Owari smiled at this, a smile filled with aggression and enjoyment. He finally met an opponent to test himself against.
Soon though a number of other electrum ranks came out. One mid and five low. Owari frowned when he saw this. The man however smiled. “You’re in the way.” Owari said simply.
“Afraid?” The mid electrum said.
Owari didn’t answer with words. Instead he held up his sword in a vertical position and used both hands. Metal, dark, and phantom energy built up on his blade. Then before they could react to the terrifying amount of energy he was giving off he swung down and launched his attack against them. The attack quickly reached them, barely giving them time to put up defensive measures. The more he uses the attack the more familiar he becomes with it. He had learned to add some of the dark affinity to the speed of the attack.
Numerous barriers and flashes of light erupted, however it was pointless. Three low electrums died straight out, likely they lacked powerful defences and relied on speed or attacks to overcome enemy attacks. The two remaining lows both were injured, one bad enough to pass out, and the other barely survived. The mid-rank was injured to the point of barely being able to stand. The raw destructive power of Owari’s attack could not be underestimated. The amplification effects of his phantom cloak and sword were no joke.
However the high electrum was fine. He had flashed out of the way using a lightning movement technique. Unlike his fellow electrum ranks he judged it was impossible to defend against that attack and escaped instead. The others were a beat too slow to rely on that and had to rely on defense. Meanwhile the high electrum rank had already disappeared by the time Owari swung.
“Impressive.” Owari smiled.
“Why are you doing this?” The man asked.
“We’re enemies.” Owari shrugged.
“You’re from the other faction?” He chuckled menacingly. “You think we won’t retaliate? You aren’t the only one who can do this kind of thing you know?”
“I know. That’s why I won’t stop until you’re all dead.” Owari said casually.
“You think you can kill us all quickly enough before the others are informed? How arrogant.” He held up his sword and charged it with electric mana.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“I’ve already wiped out two of you. What’s a dozen more.” Owari lifted his own sword and prepared to use silver wave. The two swung their sword and their mana clashed in the air canceling one another out. Owari however frowned and jumped back as four slashes of lightning came at him. One of them hit his flank, while another cut his face at his eye level, he barely dodged losing his eye. However the third was the problem. It hit his arm and split his right arm from his body.
Owari reached out and grabbed his arm. Then he replaced it on his new stump as it flashed blue. While he did this he dodged left and right trying to dodge the sword strikes that appeared in front of him as fast as lightning. He had to use light speed movement to dodge as the enemy was moving only a step below that. They traded moves for a short period before Owari smiled and swung his sword with his healed right arm.
The two swords went to clash causing the man to smile. His attacks would transfer electricity through Owari’s blade into his body stunning him long enough to cut him to pieces. But this obviously didn’t happen. Instead Owari’s blade cut the sword in half and sliced the man’s throat wide open. His eyes widened in disbelief as he backed off and held his now bleeding throat. He stared at Owari before he lost control of his floating technique and fell to the ground, dead before he even hit the ground.
Owari went down and used the same metal-infused vortex shield as usual, killing the remaining electrum ranks who couldn’t properly defend in their current states. After that owari jumped into the air again and made his way around killing all his enemies without mercy. He finished within three days, and it was only by then that the news got out. But it was too late. Only the Osiris and Ignis family were still remaining. However not for long. Owari brought Noel out to face the head of the Ignis family first as they were the weaker one and it would give her a chance to refresh herself.
Owari held Noel in the air over the Ignis family compound. “You know I can float myself right?” She asked with a smile.
“I know. I just like holding you.” He replied.
However their flirting time was interrupted by a blast of hot fire which tried to envelop them. It was painfully easy for Owari to sidestep such an attack with dark speed step. Then he let go of Noel and the two looked down at their attacker. It was a man in his forties, or so he looked, and he was holding a spear covered in thick crimson flames. He was a high electrum rank without a doubt. And beside him were half a dozen low electrums, but oddly no mid electrums. It seemed other than their head of family there was no real talents to take over for him.
“I’ll make a deal with you.” He said arrogantly. “If you leave now I’ll forget you trespassed on my land. For now at least.” He smiled calmly.
“I’ll make a deal with you then. Die quietly or die slowly.” Noel fired back.
Owari took that as his cue and let her go. She quickly sped after her opponent right away. Owari instantly appeared behind the low electrum ranks and beheaded them one by one as they ran around like headless chickens trying to guess his location. It wasn’t exactly easy, but it wasn’t like it was dangerous either.
Noel on the other hand was at a disadvantage from the start. Not only was she rusty from inactivity, but she was at best a mid electrum by this point. She rushed her enemy and used her kinetic domain to switch the location her punch hit him. He was unable to read the trajectory of her attack and tried to defend against her fist only to have it strike his side. However despite the force of the blow he quickly reoriented himself and stabbed forward half a dozen times in a mere moment sending out a number of flaming bolts at Noel.
Noel easily deflected them by diverting their trajectory slightly causing them to go wide. She would have stopped them had they not been going so fast. Her opponent wasn’t anything to sneeze at. He suddenly burst into flames and appeared next to Noel who quickly punched out with all her force. Her enemy noticed she was willing to go one for one on injuries and diverted his spear attack to intercept her fist hoping to injure her while minimizing injuries to himself.
What he didn’t know was that the gauntlets Noel was currently wearing were made of adamantite courtesy of the government for giving them access to the adamantite mines and to build up some relations with the pair. When the spear and fist collided a shockwave occurred as the flames exploded at as a flashpoint and her force affinity smashed the air apart.
The shockwave knocked both back, but Noel came to a stop almost immediately and suddenly shot forward with the same speed. She had redirected her backward momentum to forward propulsion. She also added her own movement technique to quickly arrive in front of her enemy. She punched forward and tried to strike him, only for him to suddenly flash away in a ball of fire. Noel diverted her momentum again and chased after him.
This ended up turning into a chase for a short period until Noel stopped. SHe couldn’t afford to waste mana chasing him. He finally got a breather and shot forward at her intending to spear her with his incredible speed. However she directly grabbed the spearhead and held it down forcing her enemy to stop instantly. The fire around the spear faded leaving only a red spear. Noel yanked the spear causing the man to come off balance towards her.
Using that moment she went all out in her next strike, punching with all her force focused into one spot and punching his gut. He tried to suck in his gut and jump back, only for a powerful force to strike his back. That wasn’t the worst of it. As he was smashed forward he also received a blow from his gut and was smashed from both the front and behind.
As he retched from the pain Noel lifted her leg into the air and dropped kicked him in the back of the head. As his face smashed into the building he was sent flying down a few floors spinning front over back as the building shook from the force. Noe stood guarded for a moment before jumping back in time for a flaming spear to strike at her.
She defended using her kinetic domain to disperse the flames. But her opponent appeared a second later and speared her straight through the chest. “This is what happens when you mess with a high electrum rank little girl.” He had been seriously injured in that last attack, but her destructive might wasn’t like Owari’s. She was limited to blunt forces which were easier to resist. Or so one would think.
Noel smiled and gripped his hand and the spear shaft together. Then she put her hand on the man's chest where his heart was and activated her spirit art. Suddenly blood erupted from his mouth and he looked down in disbelief. His chest looked fine, but he felt it. His heart was torn apart. He slowly let go of his spear, trying desperately to hold on. However reality was cruel and he died as he fell to the ground. Noel snapped the spear off and threw it the the ground.
“I need a hospital.” She said with a smile as Owari approached her.
“Take this.” He tossed a pill at her which she caught in her mouth and swallowed.
“Iron-y.” She scrunched her face up.
“It promotes blood production and clotting. Let’s go.” Owari grabbed her gently and launched them into the air, arriving in Leviathan city in a mere moment and landing in front of the hospital.
A few hours later Noel was discharged from the hospital without a mark on her. “Medicine is amazing.” Noel chuckled.
“So long as you don’t die there’s basically nothing they can’t fix.” Owari shrugged. Medicine was the most advanced technology in the world.
“Indeed. And yet they can’t even tell you what gender your baby will be.” Noel laughed.
“Speaking of which, let’s get back to the house.” Owari shook his head. The two soon arrived at home. They wouldn’t go out to the Osiris family quite yet. Noel needed a break after having her gut pierced by a spear, and she wasn’t like Owari who had a method of restoring mana quickly.
It wasn’t until the day after the next that they decided to go out and face the Osiris family. After making the decision to go they quickly arrived. However as soon as they appeared in the space above the compound numerous attacks flew out at the sky. Most of them were earth and sand-based. Owari casually swung his sword using his force affinity swiping out all of the weak attacks as if brushing aside a fly, then Noel canceled the momentum left in the remaining attacks and even redirected them back at the speed of sound killing countless people from the explosions.
The enemy obviously didn’t rashly act after this, they had thought they could overwhelm the enemy with numbers, but electrum ranks were not pushovers, even young ones like them. Especially ones who grew from constant battle. Unlike all of the older electrum ranks who slowly built up mana and skills over time to reach their level of power, Noel and Owari learned to fight by actually fighting. Just by surviving each encounter they would grow substantially. It wasn’t until they took the time to rest that all of that came into fruition and their mana finally caught up to their skills and abilities that they were able to reach their full potential.
Owari looked down at the gathered electrum ranks. There were three mid electrums, and two low electrums. Meanwhile there was a single high electrum. She looked back up at them with no sign of fear. “You think just because you killed everyone else you can come cause trouble in my home. Unlike them I’m not so arrogant as to believe I can win with raw strength. You’re luck has run out.” She snapped her fingers and all the electrum ranks acted at once.
Six attacks were unleashed at Noel and Owari. One was a sand vortex, another was a bunch of earthen spears which were absorbed into the vortex, followed by a dragon of water which sucked up the vortex and spears turning into a frightening serpentine mud dragon. Then the other three attacks which were a winged earth bird, along with a fire and lightning blast fused into flaming lightning-covered stone bird. These two attacks flew out at Noel and Owari giving them little time to react.
However their opponent wasn’t the only one who could use a combination attack. Owari swung his sword with all his force, using his silver wing and dark steel bite together. Then Noel punched with both hands using all of her strength. However instead of sending out shockwaves, their power fused into Owari’s attack through her kinetic domain. The destructive force of his attack was multiplied and tore apart all of the attacks coming his way. Of course his attack was canceled out as well. Seeing this all of the electrum ranks were shocked. A joint attack from six electrum ranks was canceled out just like that.
Owari rushed down at full speed and instantly killed one of the low electrums ranks. By the time the enemy realized he was there he killed the other low electrum rank. At the moment he went to kill one of the three mid-electrum ranks a change occurred. He struck back using a powerful water dragon by stabbing his spear forward. The dragon of water was able to push Owari back, but by using silver wing he was able to avoid damage.
He then used the fused silver wave and dark steel bite attack to retaliate. He thought about it idly while fighting, but he should really name this attack. However he was currently fighting so now wasn’t the time. Instead he rushed after firing the attack, preparing to attack the enemy as soon as his attack was done hitting them. All three mid electrums reacted by fusion techniques. A lightning, fire, and earth dragon was fired at Owari’s attack and they collided. However Owari’s attack was simply too powerful and broke through, still managing to cut his enemies a bit. Shortly after Owari arrived.
His opponents proved they were no pushovers however. The lightning user flashed over and intercepted his sword with his spear. Owari used dark steel fang, while his enemy used some kind of thunder art with her spear to stop the attack without actually colliding weapons. A smart move as her weapon would have been split if he had done so.
During this moment the water user stabbed his own spear forward towards Owari, however Owari flashed away and appeared behind the earth user preparing to slice his head off. However he slammed his hammer into the ground while ducking his head. A pillar of stone struck Owari’s blade from underneath, sending it off course and out of the path of his enemy causing him to miss.
Owari didn’t panic though. He saw from the corner of his eye that the lightning spear user spun her weapon and sent out a rolling wheel of electricity at him. Owari turned and used the momentum of his previous swing to increase his speed. He used his force affinity and swung his blade, ripping apart the air in front of him and destroying the wheel of lightning. At this moment the earth user made some distance between him and Owari. The real fight was about to begin, and Owari was wondering if he’d be able to sharpen himself against such crafty opponents.