I wasted no time switching to the grey domain, rushing at the falxes at lightning speed. They sensed me, abandoning the guards that engaged them, and faced me. I was confident, unlike when I first encountered a falx. I was armed with prior experience, the grey domain, and the two new abilities I’d discovered; taking out two falxes should be easy. I’d already found suitable names for my new abilities. The first, I called femryn’s jolt. I didn’t have any particular intention behind the name; I just thought it sounded cool. The second, I called realm slip.

The two falxes approached me at once. My focus was on their eyes which were bared out to me thanks to the grey domain. They lunged at me with the intent to shred me to pieces. My pace outmatched theirs, I slid underneath them as they crashed into each other. I recovered almost instantly as I pushed toward the falxes struggling to regain balance.

It seemed as though something about me irritated them. When I watched them moments ago, they looked more cool-headed while they attacked the guards, but when they saw me, they seemed to lose it.

Using femryn’s jolt, I pulled one of them close to me as I tried to drive my sword into its eye and shockingly, it blocked with its hands.

“Oh well, an unpleasant surprise,” I remarked.

This falx was different from the one I fought in Ausbane; it was conscious of its weakness.

“Does it reflect on the abilities of their demon masters?” I queried myself.

There wasn’t any cause for alarm. I just had to be quicker than the falx. I occupied my mind with calculations on the most efficient and precise way I could apply the three abilities in my keep to take out the two falxes as quickly as possible.

I switched out of the grey domain to view the situation from a normal perspective. My eyes met with Yukina’s. In that brief encounter, her expression said a whole lot. She couldn’t do much as she was in a middle of a fight with Evren. I also had issues to deal with. We’d have plenty of time to catch up when the battle was over.

Our reunion was cut short as an iced spike stabbed her in her torso. She lost concentration because I distracted her. I watched her groan as she pulled out the spike, and blood from the injury soaked her clothes. Evren didn’t see me yet. She noticed that Yukina was injured and went on the offensive to buy her time to heal. Their teamwork was impeccable like they had always fought alongside each other. For as long as I remember, I'd only always seen them fighting against each other.

The two falxes didn’t approach me carelessly anymore. It seemed they figured out that I knew how to kill them. On the other hand, the guards backed out as they watched me stand off against the falxes. I knew that most of them were, at most, augmented-class and would fare poorly against a falx because the range of spells a caster of that level would be able to conjure would do little to nothing against a falx. A skilled stillbringer of equal strength had more chances against a falx compared to a caster.

I was gripped with a weird sense of fear and confidence at the same time. I had to avoid taking any hit from the falx; I wasn’t Yukina who could spontaneously strengthen or heal her body. If I got hit, I would most probably die from it.

The falxes went in circles around me until they were exactly on opposite sides, with me at the center, before they attacked me from both sides. I used femryn’s jolt to push one of them away while I focused on the other. I had already switched to the grey domain as I ran towards it. It tried to grab me, but I side-stepped, avoiding its grip. I slashed toward its eyes, but it was just in time to turn its face as my sword met with its impregnable body. Using femryn’s jolt, I banged its back against the wall behind it with as much push force as possible in an attempt to create an opening for myself, and it worked.

The stones and debris from the wall fell on top of the falx, further disorienting it. At that moment, I discovered that even though the falx had a resistant body, it wasn’t immune to pain. I didn’t hesitate nor wait for it to recover, as I used realm slip to bridge the distance between us, materializing right in front of it and stabbing its left eye. It shrieked as it shot itself away from me. I knew everything happened so fast though it didn’t feel the same way in the grey domain.

Its howl attracted the other falx that engaged Yukina and Evren as it disengaged from them, turning in my direction. It was now three falxes against me though one was injured. They understood that I was a threat that needed to be taken care of. I wondered how they were able to communicate with each other as they arranged themselves in a formation; the injured one and another that was roughly its size attacked in pairs while the much bigger one trailed behind. I could keep pushing them away, but it would be a fruitless effort because they would keep coming. I had to take care of them as quickly as possible, so I could help Yukina and Evren.

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Using their formation against them, I used femryn’s jolt to push the two falxes charging in front, subsequently knocking down the third that trailed behind. I was elated, but I didn’t want to get ahead of myself. It was amazing to experience how simple actions produced powerful reactions. I would have been pissing on myself a few days ago if three falxes charged at me, but here I was, the one dominating the fight.

I followed up immediately. My attention was focused on the injured one. I wanted to finish it off first since I only needed to stab the remainder of its eye. It tried to create some distance between us, but I used femryn’s jolt to pull it close to me. It was completely defenseless as I stabbed its second eye. The falx dropped to the floor, dead. I couldn’t tell the expression on the faces of the other two because I was still in the grey domain, but I knew they were scared. It must be difficult for them to understand how they were being pushed and pulled without any form of physical contact. If retreating was an option, they would have chosen it.

I charged at them, and they reciprocated, though they did so hesitantly because they weren't left with another option. I was filled with a huge confidence boost. The falxes were a complete mismatch against my abilities since they had no skills and relied on only speed and brute strength. I was almost tempted to turn the fight into a plaything, but I couldn’t afford that luxury, given the situation of things around me.

Right in the grey domain, I saw the silhouettes of both falxes approach me, but they were slow. My next target was the bigger one of the two. I used realm slip to instantaneously appear in front of it. It tried to back away from me, black flames condensed in its legs, and its gait indicated that it was trying to hop backwards. Simultaneously, it was trying to lower its head and keep its eyes away from my line of sight . I pushed against the resistance the grey domain provided just to get to its eyes on time as I drove my sword into its right eye. The second falx tried to take advantage of the situation and struck. Though I didn’t see it, I could sense vibrations from behind me. There wasn’t enough time to avoid it, so I used realm slip to materialize behind the falx I stabbed. They both collided and crashed to the ground.

I immediately appeared in front of them with my pocket knives drawn. They saw me and immediately tried to cover their eyes, but they were too slow. To make their bad situation even worse, they were lying helplessly on the ground and could only do so much.

I drove my pocket knife into the eye of the falx I had already stabbed. The last one tried to retreat, a futile attempt. With femryn’s jolt, I brought it within striking range and stabbed its eye with the remainder of my knives. I turned in a swift motion, though relatively slowly in the grey domain, as I drew out my sword from the falx that lay dead. The last one was already trying to cover the remainder of its eye with its arm. I sighed because it was as good as dead. I pushed it as it hit its back hard against a pillar, an impact that forced its arms to fall.

“There goes the last one,” I said.

Using realm slip, I materialized right before it and drove my sword into its other eye.

I felt significantly fatigued, as my breath was defined in short gasps. I also felt a little dizzy, but I knew I could still hold my own. Realm slip consumed way more mana compared to femryn’s jolt, but on the bright side, I was able to take out three falxes alone. I switched out of the grey domain. The dead bodies of the falxes lay at different locations; one almost buried under a stone rubble a little distance on my left, another right in front of me, and the last one behind me. Who would have believed that I killed them myself? The guards looked at me with faces of surprise and disbelief, and I couldn’t help but smile inwardly at myself.

The battle was far from over because the demons were still alive, but I wasn’t too worried; we had Eliora and Lord Edger. Though I wasn’t completely convinced, I believed Yukina and Evren could take out one demon. I didn’t want to sit around and watch them like a spectator; I wanted to join the fight.

I didn’t know how much longer I would last since I was fatigued, but any help was helpful. The demon Yukina and Evren engaged was a middle-aged man, judging by his facial features. So far, he only manipulated ice, but he was damn good at it, keeping Yukina and Evren at bay. I wondered if ice was the only element he could wield or if he wasn’t just going all out. I planned to strike him on his blind side, drew out many deductions based on Yukina and Vixra's fight, and knew that demons generally were very good at defending. But even with such defense, I believed realm slip had the edge over it. I had to be precise if I wanted to strike because I'd only got one shot at it.

As their fight dragged on, Yukina and Evren started to gain the upper hand. Maybe it was due to the fact that I’d eliminated the falx that constantly kept them distracted. Yukina always charged first while Evren supported. No one would believe she was the same person who was almost killed by a demon a few days ago. I could see sparks coursing the blades of her sword, just like it did against Vixra. Yukina slashed through the demon’s spells as quickly as they were conjured while Evren struck through the openings Yukina created.

The odds of the fight tipped in their favor. If nothing went wrong, it was obvious they were going to kill that demon. I reconsidered my plan to join them. It would be rude to butt in because they’d already put in a lot of work and didn’t look like they needed any help.

“Maybe I should watch after all,” I said.

I turned and saw Eliora as she isolated a demon that was originally fighting against Lord Edger in a ring of fire.

“This is going to be fun,” I said, smiling.