“You can only really get a true measure of a person’s mettle in a slaughter, more often than not.” - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire.

“What are you fools waiting for!? Go take care of her!” yelled a tall, burly, middle-aged man with a bald head and a braided goatee as he pointed at Kino. Given how the guards reacted immediately at his words, she guessed him to be the slave trader in question. Since he was a trader by profession, it wasn’t strange that he spoke common, unlike many of the local gentry – or at least she guessed them to be that – who doesn’t seem to understand her words.

The man in question also had the presence of mind to grab a curved, broad saber with the telltale shiny black color of adamant steel, something few humans would care to use because of its weight. Clearly a man who was used to fighting for himself prior to his descent into a life of debauchery, then, and one clever enough to take good care of his body even so.

Two of his guards also wielded similar blades, though the rest had only normal weapons mostly made out of regular steel. Kino noted the two guards with adamant steel blades in mind. If those blades were enchanted to resist magic, then they might withstand blows from her void magic, which would necessitate an alternative approach.

As it was, she didn’t have the time to think as four of the nearest guards to the staircase rushed towards her with their spears held out in front. Kino only responded with a couple of leisurely swipes that chopped those spears into three roughly equal pieces, before another swipe of her weapon flashed past and four heads rolled to the ground, the headless bodies toppling over as she took a step forward.

There was more room to move around – the second floor of the mansion was quite huge and open, after all – as Kino strode forward, and rather than wait for the rest of the guards to move against her, she rushed towards them instead. Her glaive flashed by in a wide swing as she shifted her grip towards one end of the handle for more range.

Another two guards toppled over, or rather, the upper halves of their bodies toppled over with looks of incredulity still plastered on their faces, while their lower halves remained standing where they were for a brief moment. Her strike had cleaved the two apart at the waist, and messily disemboweled two more next to them in a sight that made Kino feel glad that the void coating on her weapon meant she wouldn’t need to clean it.

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As she struck the guards to the right, those on the left reacted to her advance and tried to flank her, their spears thrusting her way. Kino avoided some of the spears, placed a flattened void orb like a shield in the path of those she couldn’t avoid, and chopped down the rest. Then she turned around and charged into the midst of the spear-wielding guards, over half of which just lost the pointy end of their weapon.

While a void coating kept her blade clean, maintaining such a coating over the rest of her body was not something Kino could handle for long periods of time yet, due to the amount of mana and concentration that took. Still, she used her void magic that way briefly, if only to keep herself from becoming thoroughly soaked with the blood of the guards she slew and dismembered.

After barely a minute of fighting most of the guards were dead, save the two who held adamant steel blades standing close to the slave trader. Curiously, the slave trader himself had stepped forward and stood beside his guards, having rolled up his robes to allow for more freedom of movement. Apparently he chose to take his chances and fight rather than leave the fighting to his guards.

That was a rather rare stance to take, so Kino would at least give some respect to him for that.

The three of them – the slave trader and his two guards – advanced together with practiced steps, their whirling adamant steel blades in harmony with each other’s. Kino had to parry and block the blades physically, as they were indeed enchanted with anti-magic as she had predicted. It was the one major reason why anyone would even get an adamant steel weapon, as they were often far too heavy despite their amazing durability.

It was obvious that the slave trader himself used to be a skilled fighter, and even if his subsequent life of debauchery had dulled his skills, it barely showed. The two guards likely used to be his brothers-in-arms, given the tacit cooperation the three exhibited while fighting together. They worked together seamlessly and fluidly, and gave Kino enough of a fight that she had to take things seriously.

Her hand shifted towards the center of her weapon’s shaft, as she used both ends of the weapon to simultaneously parry and block some of the blades. At times, she cast a void working at one of the three to throw them off the attack, or just to occupy their attention for a brief moment. Unfortunately, all three of her opponents were seasoned fighters who knew how to fight against a mage, and reacted at the slightest hint of a mana buildup.

Their blades often unraveled her workings before they could even take shape, which left her fighting mostly using her void-clad weapon. Other than its increased lethality, however, her weapon was little better than a regular weapon against these foes, as their own adamant steel blades were durable enough to be able to resist its effects thanks to the enchantments laid on them.

As she pivoted around to avoid one blade while pushing another down using one end of her weapon and blocking the third with the other end, Kino realized that she would likely have to use her one big advantage against these three. Namely the fact that she wouldn’t die no matter what they did to her, whereas her opponents were far, far more mortal.