Numbers of dead and battered bodies of the guards flashed in the vision of Michael and Uriel as they ran through the noisy hallway. Those guards were not weak to begin with, but they all got beaten one-sidedly by the infiltrators.
Every time a new body appeared from the shadows, Michael and Uriel recognized how powerful their opponents would be. But that did not falter them at all, as they were confident they could handle them all. But they still have to be on guard every time.
Vestiges of the assailants came to an end after several dozens of meters. At a certain point, Michael and Uriel stopped their advance when they were greeted by six individuals. They had been expecting their arrival.
“Exquisite pair of people who are powerful enough to overcome Clyde and the company.”
Readying her sword from its scabbard, a swordswoman with brown hair under a silvery full-plate armor welcomed the arrival of Michael and Uriel. After her initiation, she was followed by the spearman.
“Good job reaching up to this point, but you won’t go any further either.”
Once he finished his sentence, the magic caster used his ebony black wooden staff and tapped the floor twice. He appeared to be in his late twenties, with cerulean blue hair and a slender physique.
He wore a magic-resistant cloak of the same color as his hair. The staff in his hands was made out of a branch of Black Treant that greatly increased his magic output and slightly decreased his casting spell.
All his equipment was of a unique quality and hard to find in the market. But the syndicate he was in had the capability to manufacture those valuable items, so he was capable of availing himself of them.
“Now that I think about it, the two of you seem strong, and I have an offer for you for that.” He then put his hand forward and put a smile on his face. “How about joining our organization instead?”
“…No.”
As soon as he provided his refusal to his offer, Michael lunged forward with his saber in his hand. Intending to stab the magic caster, the most leveled in the group, Michael thrust his blade and aimed its tip at the heart of the caster.
“Get him!”
In response to his first attack, the spearman and the swordswoman quickly crossed their weapons with Michael’s saber to intercept it. Before the blade reached the target, the guard of his sword was stopped by the iron shaft and the mithrill blade of a spear and a sword.
“Vince!” 𝐞𝐨𝘃𝐞𝐥.
“Understood!”
As per the magic caster’s signal, the scout, whose name was Vince, moved toward the three. He then placed his palms on the backs of his companions and broke the data crystal that he had been biting with his teeth.
In a flash, the four of them, including Michael, vanished on the spot by triggering the sealed Warp in the crystal. Vince had Michael separated from his partner and isolated him to another place for the swordswoman and the spearman to fight him.
◆◇◆◇◆◇
“You really separated us, huh?”
After the scenery changed, Michael found himself in a forest outside of the outer walls of the Imperial Capital. Along with the scout who cast the teleportation, he and his interceptors had been transported within the shallow part of the Vagoth Forest.
“Now that the location has changed, we can now fight more comfortably, young man!”
“Horizontal Swing!”
“Hmph!”
The woman whose sword still stopped his saber spoke and then pushed her blade to set her sword free. Michael stepped back several times to distance himself from the wide range of the Level 2 technique of the spearman.
As he stepped back, Michael suddenly felt that his feet had stopped. Before he realized it, he had stepped on the sticky solution that Vince had set up on his spot beforehand.
Taking advantage of his immobilization, the swordswoman then dashed forward and mightily slashed her sword with the intention of cleaving Michael’s body in half.
At the same time, the spearman launched a high-speed stab behind his back, assaulting him from both sides. However, Michael remained calm and began executing his next moves.
“Weapon Enchantment: Fire. Eight Folded Slash.”
Suddenly, the blade of his saber glowed a blaze orange as if it were heated in a furnace. Once his sword was successfully enchanted with the fire element, Michael executed a Level 6 Sword Art technique and slashed his saber on the ground eight times.
Due to the high temperature of the blade, the sticky solution hardened and immediately porcelainized. Michael then jumped onto his spot and broke the hardened solution, avoiding the blades that were coming to kill him.
“Shit!” The swordswoman got irritated as her sword missed its target.
“He has been a magic swordsman all along?!” But the spearman was shocked upon seeing Michael do a magical swordplay.
Magic swordsmanship was difficult to achieve as the user required some capabilities, such as magic proficiency and great swordsmanship skill. Michael was doing that great feat. But he was not the only one who could perform it.
“I can do that too, you know?! Weapon Enchantment: Wind!”
After the activation of the skill, the woman’s sword shone green, an indication of the endowment of the wind element upon it, which made her blade much sharper and lighter than before.
“Fast Sword!”
“Fast Sword.”
Cling!
The woman tried to slice the newly-landed Michael with an extremely fast slash, but Michael was able to reach it and countered it with the same technique. The collision of their fast blades generated a sharp clink and even a moderate shockwave.
“Tailspin Thrust!”
Seizing the moment, the spearman lunged forward and executed a Level 4 Spear Art technique. As a response, Michael round-kicked the woman and sent her flying for a few meters before intercepting the spear with a technique.
“Sword Wave.”
Michael slashed the air diagonally, and a crescent wave was created by it. Due to the attributes of his blade, the wave was reddish in hue and had a high temperature within it. And that heat wave was flying toward the man at incredible speed.
“?!”
The spearman sensed the danger of the attack; he would suffer critical damage if he took it head-on. He then cancelled his spell and moved sideways in order to avoid it. However, his evasion was what Michael wanted to happen.