One of the ghosts opened his mouth widely and bit at the blue-skinned man. However, the blue-skinned man's reactions were very fast. He stared at the ghost and his mana hand crushed it into pieces.

But while his mana hand was busy killing that ghost, two more level-two ghosts appeared behind him and stabbed at him with their claws while screaming madly.

All of the blue-skinned man’s blades were busy stopping other ghosts, so he could not use them. He could only move aside flustered to avoid the ghosts’ attacks.

Unfortunately, he lost his balance for an instant after evading the attacks.

It was not the first time the blue-skinned man showed an opening during the fight, but Aleen did not act before this and waited until the moment when he was sure he could injure him gravely.

And this was the moment.

Before the man could recover his balance, Aleen stepped forward and activated his skill.

Lightning Movement!

Different from last time, Aleen did not restrict the skill’s and instead, tried to move as fast as possible.

His body was covered in lightning, and everything around him slowed down. His eyes flashed with a silver arc and his body charged forth.

Aleen was sure that this was his fastest attack ever. He felt as though his body was released from the shackles restricting it and finally showed his true power.

In an instant, he was already before the blue-skinned man.

His sword was filled with mana, and sixty-two layers of vibrations gave it an incredible level of sharpness. Aleen put on a determined expression and slashed down with all his strength.

The sword moved an incredible speed and cut towards the blue-skinned man’s neck. At this distance, the attack was unavoidable.

But when the sword was about to cut his neck, the blue-skinned man’s eyes glinted.

Then, one last blade flew from below his robes and fell into his hand.

The man wielded the blade with extremely smooth movements. He filled it with mana and put it between his neck and Aleen’s sword.

*Clang!* With a sharp sound, the two weapons clashed.

For a brief moment, both weapons kept a stalemate. The man's strength was greater, but Aleen’s speed added enough power to his attack to draw a tie with him.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Aleen was surprised. He could not believe that the blue-skinned man was holding back before even under such a dangerous situation.

Furthermore, he was wielding the blade with great familiarity. Aleen was certain that his close-ranged skills were not much weaker than his long-ranged attacks.

Until now, he had used only ranged attacks and gave Aleen the mistaken impression that he was a long-ranged combatant. But at this moment, he showed his trump card.

The man smirked at Aleen’s surprised expression. He then waved his free hand and controlled the other flying blades to attack Aleen.

But Aleen’s surprised expression quickly turned back to normal. Actually, he expected something like this when he realized the attack.

The blue-skinned man was Aleen’s strongest enemy until now, so Aleen did not dare to underestimate him. He had thought about the worst-case scenery from before realizing the attack, and though he was surprised by the blue-skinned man’s close combat skills, he was not completely helpless.

Still under the effects of ‘Lightning Movement’, Aleen raised his left leg and kicked towards the blue-skinned man’s waist.

The man smirked in ridicule. Although Aleen’s kick could hurt him slightly, it could not change the current situation.

But at the next instant, his expression changed to one of astonishment.

Aleen’s left greave turned silver. It began to vibrate at great speed and sparks of lightning surrounded it.

Sharp Blade – Leg version.

Aleen was not sure about the power of this move, but he knew that the blue-skinned man could not afford to receive it. Even if this attack could not kill him, it could hurt him gravely enough that he would be unable to cope with the ghosts' attacks.

And the man’s next reaction proved his guess.

The blue-skinned man jumped back to evade the attack, but it allowed Aleen to avoid the blades coming towards him. Using the great speed of Lightning Movement, Aleen flashed at the right and thrusted his sword forward.

The man blocked hurriedly with his sword, but the sword thrust made him step back again. At this moment, the ghosts nearby attacked him crazily.

When the man controlled the blades to attack Aleen he left a hole in his defenses. It would not have been a problem if he dispatched Aleen quickly and then controlled the blades to stop the ghosts again, but because he failed to kill Aleen, it created a dangerous situation.

In front, he had Aleen’s sword, and behind, he had the ghosts’ attacks.

For the first time from the beginning of the fight, the man felt the threat of death.

Aleen adjusted his position and attacked again. He made use of his accelerated thoughts to calculate the best method of attack and sent his blade in that position.

The man controlled the blades frantically and barely stopped the ghosts. At the same time, he wielded the blade in his hand to parry Aleen’s sword.

But Aleen slightly twisted his wrist and changed the movement of the sword.

The blue-skinned man's eyes opened wide. He could see the sword approaching slowly towards his neck at incredible speed. But when the sword was about to pierce his neck, he shouted.

His eyes turned white, and the mana hand stopping the ghosts’ attacks grew in size. It extended until the man’s neck and stopped the sword completely.

Aleen felt something invisible stopping his sword. Although the sword was a millimeter away from beheading his enemy, he felt that it was very far away.

Aleen’s eyes turned fierce. He sent his remaining mana into the sword and gritted his teeth. Blood began to flow from his lips, but he did not give up.

The sword turned completely silver. Lightning surged from it and Sharp Blade grew stronger, but despite it, the sword could not advance anymore.

But Aleen was not resigned to die here. He was determined to kill the enemy with this attack, no matter the cost.

“HAHHHHHHHH!!!!” With a cry of rage, he took a step forward. And then, something changed in the sword.

Sharp Blade stopped abruptly, and the lightning surrounding the sword disappeared.

Then, the sword itself transformed into lightning...

... And pierced the man’s neck.