The woman closed in on Jeren, who was sprawled on the ground, in just a second, her saber flying through the air, aiming for his head.

The guards were shocked and immediately unsheathed their weapons. Alas, they were too slow as she left them in the dust.

The red saber was elegant but also practical. The curve of its one-edged blade was very subtle, giving it the appearance of a straight sword. The hilt was carefully carved, with the guard hiding her petite fingers.

Despite its beauty, Jeren felt a deadly crisis befall him.

Fortunately, just as the saber’s edge almost reached him, he finally finished the incantation he had been preparing.

“Magic Hand!” In his stressful situation, he called out the name of the spell he cast.

The spell, Magic Hand, as its name hinted, conjured a mass of mana in the shape of a hand.

The hand materialized from the stub of his real hand, giving him the ability to utilize it instinctively.

In a matter of life and death, he used the hand and caught the saber just moments before it reached his throat!

The saber didn’t budge as the woman didn’t have the physical strength to tear apart the mana.

“Haha!” Jeren laughed in relief as he prepared to reach for something inside his robe since he couldn’t use two spells at the same time.

Unfortunately, the rustle of her clothes made him glance at her. His face fell as he shivered.

‘Fuck!’

She used her free hand to reach for her belt, where there was another red saber!

Just as she unsheathed it to slash him down, several black streaks glided through the air at high speed. Those more perceptive would notice they were black centipedes.

Noticing them, she changed the trajectory of the saber and slashed them down.

Boom!

The centipedes exploded upon contact with her saber, destabilizing her. The black clouds created a veil around her, obstructing everyone’s vision.

At that moment, Havren came out in front of Jeren and cast a spell.

“[Mana Rope].” Mana started to take the shape of a long, thick string. Illyan, observing from above, noticed the amount of mana escaping from the mana construct thanks to his special eyes. Despite the black smoke obstructing his vision, he could observe without a problem.

Havren didn’t care about the low efficiency as he held the end of the mana rope tightly and flicked it around.

The sound of mana tearing the air apart resounded as the rope flew toward the woman like a whip.

Despite not being able to see anything, the woman felt the mana pulsation and employed the breathing technique to propel herself away.

It was fortunate she did so, as the ground where she stood moments ago split apart while a tree burst, its crown falling to the ground.

Meanwhile, the guards, too slow to dodge and standing in the way, were pummeled by the mana rope.

Havren stopped waving the rope, flicked it back to himself, and reabsorbed the mana back into his body.

‘Ah! Finally, I understand. This is exactly what Ezekiel did with his mana tendrils. Since acolytes can’t recover mana automatically, they have to reabsorb it slowly each time they use it. But with this trick, they can use a much smaller amount of mana with the same amount of power.’

Illyan looked back at Jeren, who also reabsorbed the mana hand before crawling to his severed hand.

Jeren took out a vial from his robe and poured the contents on his stub and on the severed hand before putting them together.

“Guards! Attack!” Havren commanded coldly as he took out a pouch with dark stones.

He then took out a parchment with various symbols written on it, a magic scroll.

Havren started placing the dark stones on the parchment and mumbled some words.

As he did that, the guards charged toward the woman.

However, she danced around them, killing those close to her while speeding toward the two men.

“Jeren! Use the dark stones!” Havren howled, feeling the woman was extraordinarily dangerous.

Jeren didn’t answer but listened to his older colleague. He took out a dark stone and sent his mana inside it.

The delicate balance inside of the stone was interrupted as uncontrollable mana went crazy as its own stored mana started to collapse.

Jeren threw the dark stone right at the woman.

She scowled as she dodged once again, not before throwing one of her sabers at Jeren.

Another explosion rang out, this time big enough to uproot several trees, which fell on those surrounding them.

“Aw?” When Havren heard the feminine yelp, he celebrated inwardly and sent another wave of centipedes in that direction.

Meanwhile, the dark stones in his hands started to dwindle as the magic scroll brightened.

At that moment, the saber flying toward Jeren accelerated.

Seeing that, Jeren immediately cast a mana barrier.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the saber couldn’t cut through but didn’t stop either as its power grew stronger.

“Ugh…” Jeren grunted as the barrier cracked. The burden of the barrier transferred to him, causing his apertures to bleed.

He knew he would die if he didn’t stop it. Havren was powering up his magic scroll, but he didn’t believe it would save him.

Gritting his teeth, he reached for his pouches.

Throwing another dark stone seemed hopeless, so he planned to use his centipedes.

He threw the entire pouch at the point where the saber invaded the barrier and jumped away.

That deactivated his magic, letting the saber free.

However, when it collided with the pouch, tearing it apart, a swarm of centipedes wrapped around it, slowing it down as they gnawed at it.

Without hesitation, Jeren ran at full speed toward Havren.

In the periphery of his vision, he saw the bloodied woman. It wasn’t her blood; it was the blood of the guards.

When they made eye contact, she reached out her hand, palm facing the sky.

[Water Droplet]

The thawing snow and the moisture in the air gathered atop her hand, swirling into the shape of a droplet.

This made her look awe-inspiring as she stood with a straight back.

[Accelerate]

She mumbled another spell as the water above her palm swirled even faster.

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“Fuc-” Jeren’s eyes widened as he tried to cast another spell.

But he was too slow.

The water droplet launched at high speed, piercing his chest without resistance.

Jeren stared at the hole in his chest in disbelief before his body fell to the cold ground, lifeless.

The droplet continued much farther before exploding outside the now-destroyed camp.

“What a waste of mana…” She sighed with annoyance, turning her attention to the now-prepared Havren.

“Witch, you won’t be able to kill me. Even if you can, you will pay a price. Think it over.”

Havren spoke somberly, threatening the woman.

The woman didn’t respond, charging at him with her saber.

As she closed in to slash him, an invisible barrier rippled in front of her.

‘Was that what he was preparing the entire time?’ Illyan, jumping from several fallen trees to others, curiously watched the fight.

He hesitated to interfere. She was strong, perhaps not as strong as him, but he didn’t know if this was her limit.

Not that she was necessarily his enemy, but he was used to thinking that way.

Since she didn’t react to him, it must mean she either didn’t fear him attacking her or didn’t see him as an enemy.

‘I just need the damn technique about the centipedes. I don’t need anything else, despite it being tempting. If possible, I will just ask for a trade. I have some dark stones in my pouch…’

Nodding to himself, he continued watching the fight.

He wondered how Havren planned to proceed.

However, just as the saber almost cut through the barrier, Illyan widened his eyes.

‘This is interesting.’

With his eyes, he saw the strength behind the saber reacting within the barrier, causing a backlash with the same power, making the woman cough blood.

Havren showed signs of discomfort inside the barrier, but it was nothing compared to the power the woman felt coursing through her body.

“If you understand, then give up!” Havren hollered, hoping she would stop. The parchment was his trump card for many years.

It was a parchment of a better version of [Mana Barrier], further enhanced by an array master. Thanks to that, the parchment could be powered with external mana and reused until it lost its properties.

It was extremely difficult and dangerous to obtain. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t last long as the mana needed for it always took much of Havren’s fortune.

The woman snorted, sheathing her saber. Instead, her hands started making magic incantations, showing her determination to kill him.

Havren’s expression fell. He took out the pouch with centipedes and threw them outside.

The centipedes glided through the air, their mandibles aimed at her fair skin.

She had to stop and step aside, unable to cast spells while moving.

Just as she frowned, she saw Havren’s imperceptible smile.

Realizing her mistake, she started to retreat, but it was too late to dodge.

The sound of air splitting apart was heard as the mana spear pierced her waist. Fortunately, she turned her body to avoid injuring her organs.

But the pain slowed her down as another wave of centipedes exploded into acidic mist.

She held her breath and dispersed the mist using raw mana.

Then she looked at her ambusher. Bast, holding the head of the chief bandit, stood with a darkened face.

“Havren! What happened? I heard the explosions from afar!” Bast couldn’t recognize the woman as she had the robe before.

The guards around him were the ones who came with him and were now furious at the deaths of their comrades. They unsheathed their weapons and prepared to lunge at her.

“She was the body shield the chief bandit threw at us. She ambushed us after you left and killed Jeren. It was probably planned out beforehand by her!”

Meanwhile, she took medicine and drank it. Then, she looked at her enemies. She was surrounded. She could fight them, but it would waste a lot of mana.

That would mean this fight was completely useless, and she would just startle all the acolytes in the town without doing anything substantial.

So, while staring at them, she decided to gamble. Even if it didn’t work, it could still serve as a distraction toward the men around.

“I want to make a deal.”

She said calmly.

Bast’s face was grim.

“You think you are in any positio—”

His sentence was interrupted as she continued speaking.

“If you help me to kill them, you can take everything they own. I only want their bodies,” she said with a cold expression.

Bast frowned, not understanding her words.

But Havren turned pale.

‘What? Someone else is here? Or is it trickery to deceive us?’

Illyan narrowed his eyes.

He immediately knew she was talking to him.

‘Is she trying to force me to fight by revealing me?’

Illyan thought for a second, then shook his head. She didn’t even look in his direction, which made it impossible for the robed men to know where he was. If he disappeared, they would be none the wiser.

‘It could be said to be sincere. If she only wants the bodies, then the deal would be extremely beneficial to me.’

Illyan decided to risk it. If it came to worst, he could just run.

There was no profit without risk.

So, without wasting time, he took out several throwing knives and threw them at the guards.

Then he took a deep breath as he employed the breathing technique.

He imitated the move of the female as his legs trembled from the burden before he burst the tree branch he was standing on in half while propelling himself at high speed in the direction of Havren.

“Agh?!”

Just as several guards fell to the horror of others, Illyan's body slammed entirely into the barrier!

“Ugh!” Havren spat blood as he felt the immense power rushing to invade his body.

On the other hand, Illyan twisted his body to let himself be ricocheted by the backlash at high speed in the direction of Bast.

When Bast saw that, his eyes widened in horror as he planned to dodge, but it was at that moment when he felt the air around him harden, thus immobilizing him.

“Mind Power!” Bast was scared witless as he saw the female pointing in his direction.

Then his vision started to spin.

He even saw the headless body being tackled by the ambusher while holding two bloodied knives.

‘Ah…’ Realizing it was his body, he felt regret in his heart before his vision darkened…

“Damn.” Illyan groaned as his bones snapped together and returned to their places. The backlash was enormous, as it was the power he had actually accumulated during that lunge.

Of course, Illyan noticed that Havren had to endure a fraction of that power too, so it was not a loss.

The still-living guards retreated as they saw the man with twisted limbs rearranging himself into normal appearance. It was like a nightmare.

Of course, Illyan conspicuously took some of his medicine to at least pretend his regeneration wasn’t completely natural. Even though hiding his gift completely was impossible, he could still downplay the results at least a little.

They wanted to run away, but Illyan was faster. He lunged at the nearest one and clamped his hand around his neck.

A crackling sound resounded as he killed the man while taking away his spear.

Without stopping to move, he stabbed everyone in reach to death.

When he wanted to follow the others, the flying saber came to the rescue as it bisected them without resistance.

Havren’s face fell.

He wanted to plead with the man. He even prepared to promise him that Aziro would give him a reward if he survived, despite it being a lie.

But when Illyan turned around, Havren felt despair.

The ugly face covered with long scars showed up.

“Smiling Devil,” he whispered as he stared at Illyan.

Illyan heard that and grinned at him to live up to his name.

The female looked at him without showing anything on her face.

“Don’t attack him from close. The backlash is probably less dangerous if we attack from a distance. I will cast a spell that will overwhelm the barrier, so keep him busy, please.”

As she said this, she ignored everything else as she started to use hand incantations while muttering chants.

Illyan glanced at her before getting to the dead body of Bast, taking his possessions.

However, he didn’t have time to look inside as he noticed Havren reaching inside of his pouches again.

“Not gonna happen,” Illyan muttered as he took position to throw a spear.

His muscles tensed for a second.

Then he threw the spear at the highest speed he could muster.

It was flying with such speed that the barrier was almost pierced through.

This all was the result of his training in [Blood Feeding Technique] and other techniques that strengthened his body.

The immense power was coursing through his body.

Of course, the spear immediately shattered as the same amount of power flew at Illyan.

But Illyan was prepared as he dodged to the side while flicking his leg to kick another weapon into his hands from the ground. Some of the power still hit him, but he regenerated immediately.

‘A sword, huh.’ Illyan smirked as he held the weapon. He thought about using the air slash, but considering that he didn’t know the woman, it was better to hold some trump cards up his sleeves.

He threw the sword, which then shattered after colliding with the raging mana. Havren howled in pain as fine cracks appeared on the barrier.

Illyan started to circle the barrier as he kicked into his hands any weapons that lay on the ground and threw them at the barrier with his full strength.

He suffered the backlash quite heavily, as some of the backlash attacks couldn’t be avoided since Havren also threw the centipedes at him as a form of distraction.

But it was futile.

[Fire Spark]

Suddenly, the female ended her incantation as her palm, facing the sky, revealed the swirling flames of orange and red.

The hot air hit the cold air of the north, creating a breeze that made the woman look even more dangerous.

[Accelerate]

She then uttered another spell.

After seeing this fight, Illyan realized the extreme advantage of those who can keep two activated spells in a battle-ready state at the same time. She couldn’t cast them simultaneously, but it was still good.

Then, the fireball disappeared from her hand.

In the next second, the barrier seemed to explode in flames.

The flames surrounded the entire barrier, completely encompassing it.

Immediately, the backlash flew at her at high speed. It didn’t have the properties of flame, but the power behind it was the same.

Illyan saw that and knew that the female was injured. But he didn’t plan to help. Since she attacked, she should be prepared for this.

And he was right.

She unsheathed the saber once again and visibly infused mana inside of it before swinging it down at the backlash.

Crackle

Illyan felt that her stance was perfect as she cut the mana in half. It was as if she had been practicing the saber arts for decades despite looking so young.

There was even a small feeling of inferiority when he saw her. She surpassed him in magic arts, which was completely understandable, but now he felt she was even better in martial arts.

If we were to not take into consideration his body strength, then just her technique was more refined.

‘Sigh… Time… I just need more time than others.’

He knew he wasn't a genius, but he didn’t lament since he had a solution.

“Arrrrrghh!!!” The screams of pain resounded in the now silent forest as Havren had to feel the pain of the barrier crumbling.

The flame was surrounding it, which actually overwhelmed the barrier into not making any more backlash moves.

Now, they just needed to wait.

So, the woman started to treat herself in front of him. It seemed that she really didn’t consider him a threat.

The mana spear in her waist had already melted, so now a gaping wound was revealed.

Meanwhile, Illyan went to retrieve the possessions of Jeren.

She looked at him but retrieved her eyes afterward, focusing on her wounds…